Let me introduce you to
Emily, and her Big Sister



She started as just a little waif, or puff .... very gentle, very feminine and loving. Gently wafting her way slowly and surely in a westerly direction. And not many people taking that much notice of her which did not really please her at all. So, deciding to become a little more tetchy and assertive decided to show what she could do. The first time anyone took any notice of her was when an American reconnaissance satellite thought it may develop into something, so they put the little depression on watch. And sure enough, just like a small petulant child, she decided to beef herself up. So slowly and steadily over the next couple of days while travelling over warm waters drew as much up as she could. Suddenly the National Hurricane Centre in America was keeping a very close eye on her and naming her for the first very time.. and the name they gave her was Emily! And, the bad news was that she was heading straight towards us. So just to be prudent, we went to the supermarket, bought in a few survival bits and pieces such as canned food. And if it was going to be anything like the last hurricane, a good store of batteries, (it's just amazing how many of the gadgets we have use these) as well as a good supply of candles . Because once the hurricane shutters close, it could be pitch black inside. She came closer and closer to our island, and we were beginning to brace ourselves when she suddenly she diverted and went further south than we are, going towards StKitts instead. Phew! We were really quite pleased about this because it meant that it would only rain quite hard here where we are in St Maarten. So on cue, a few days later she arrived, and luckily we were totally prepared for her. Hope you like the pictures and short video.

And we had such a week last week that even I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT. But I can assure you that it’s quite true. It all started badly! Again! The next tropical depression after Emily was verging on whether to become a hurricane or not! Again another woman’s name for this one, and she was christened Irene. And as a deep depression, she passed quite close to our island as well, probably a hundred miles away. But in terms of storms, that’s simplyon your doorstep! Again we battened down the hatches and she literally roared past . Luckily not directly over us. So with trepidation ventured out to the French side for dinner; and went to one of our favourite restaurants called the 'Café de Paris’ which is in the Marina Royalé, (posh name huh) and ordered the food. While waiting for it to arrive watched as the storm outside really started kicking up. And about five minutes into eating, all hell seemed to break loose with most of the diners scrambling for umbrellas and the owner, Mehmet, (from Turkey) rushing to find any, or all the umbrellas he may have in the restaurant. The wind was blowing so hard, and the rain coming down so fiercely, that it was blowing straight through the louvers at the apex of the roof and falling directly onto us the diners. Now I want to ask you, when have you ever been inside a restaurant and had to have an umbrella while dining? And the bad news was I didn’t have my camera to take a picture. And suddenly there was a HUGE brilliant flash. Lightning.....; followed within a second or two by the loudest bang I have ever heard. Everyone literally leap up in fright; shock, or just sheer terror. It was really and I mean really close. The looks in the eyes of the diners said it all. My philosophy was; well, it missed us so let’s keep eating. Which we did, and within an hour it began abating. Not a lot, but enough to get back to the car. Anyway, as she (Irene) passed by the island, she began strengthening yet again. Growing into a full blown big category hurricane. Starting off as a category 1 then 2 and finally a three as she tore into the Bahamas and other islands, and continuing to working her way up the Eastern seaboard of the States. You may have been watching the news to see the destruction she’s wreaking there! Enough said.

A day later we, on the second floor of a store when there was a slight earth tremor . And as we are not really that far from Haiti all sorts of bad thoughts flew through my mind. The goods on the shelves continued to shiver ever so slightly and I watched them for any further sign while calling loudly for Dyana who was in another aisle. The first tremor was only the prelude of what was to come. The building started shaking and moving! There were no door jambs to stand under! No form of cover whatsoever! It was an open plan store! And it was noisy! With the ground moving, and the building swaying, creaking and groaning and straining at every joint! I can’t tell you how long it lasted. Probably only a few seconds. But I can certainly tell you that it seemed so much longer. A lifetime. Anyway, once it was over, we all shot out the building which thank goodness was still intact and the following day read all about it in the newspapers. It had a magnitude4.9 on the Richter scale.

And finally to end on another happy note, we went to a birthday party . Yes, you probably won’t believe this either, but we were invited to the the big supermarket across the road which was one year old! I remember it opening with a lot of razz-a-mataz, dancers and ofcourse lots of music. It’s now well established and the owners, (a Chinese lady called ‘Me’ and her tall Dutch husband called ‘Ralph’ run this place excellently. In fact every time we go over to buy stuff, the usual anecdotes come out something like, "I wonder if I can talk to Me today", or “If me sees us today, should we ......” stuff where the actual English just makes no sense at all. Hope you like the videos.  

So that was all last week. And next week we’re off to Puerto Rico. Will tell you all about that when we’re back. Lets hope the biblical plagues don't follow us there.