What Next?!

So it's pretty safe to say that it's been a tough few months/years for everyone the world over.

But matters have been getting out of hand in Barbados, and there's little hope on the horizon.

Just as the island started to release Covid restrictions we got hit by a new threat - a volcano.
Unexpected and under-estimated!

We did get some early warning, a day or two. And watching a volcanic cloud on satellites slowly blowing your way was unsettling but how bad could it be?

Some older locals who remembered the last time this happened suggested bringing everything inside. We brought some furniture in, closed the windows.

Watching dark skies approach in the middle of the day was odd, like the sun never rose. A bit apocalyptic.

But it was nearly Etta's 3rd birthday - her 2nd birthday was in full lockdown, and we made the most. Would we have to cancel the beach birthday party?

And the obvious answer is yes, of course. For another year the natural world conspires to ruin her birthday, but we did our best!

Photos really can't do justice to the ash cloud, but it turns out that it was very serious, very dangerous, and would affect the island for weeks if not months.
We have to be grateful, we weren't directly affected by hot lava or anything but this was hard. All credit to the birthday girl, her mum and our friends/neighbours who braved toxic dust in the air to come to an indoor party. We had a LOT of extra cake but managed to make 1 room into a passable disco, and another into a slightly dusty cinema. Etta was happy.

Until you have lived through a volcanic cloud, you can't do justice to how shit and pervasive it can be. And living in an old building with jalousie windows doesn't necessarily help! Volcanic ash everywhere........

We did manage to have pizza on the beach a few weeks later, and there were still dust clouds sweeping over us as we did so, but Ets didn't seem to mind.

Unfortunately that wasn't the end of our challenges.
We had a significant water leak upstairs that drowned apartment 2 and tore the ceilings down. Thankfully we hadn't finished that one yet!
And our 20 year old jeep had been nursing a leaking water pump for some time, that resulted in a spectacularly blown head gasket while watching the sunset on the other side of the island.
As Covid curfew lockdown slammed shut for the evening. Nobody ever said life was easy..............