Radio Silence

25th October 2024
Let’s put it this way. Yesterday was NOT a hammock day. We were beset by problem after problem and at 4.33pm with a big harrumph we dived into the pool, declared a strike, downed tools and headed to Le Shack 10 minutes down the road for some grub. We had never been there but decided neither of us had the strength to cook and so we checked it out. A shack it was not. The red snapper was divine and the perfect accompaniment was an ice cold Banks. So more than one was had while we debriefed a challenging day. We both had successes so we majored on those until the feeling of well-being from Banks set in.

So our successes …. Feeling that I needed to salvage some positive actions for the day and feeling extremely virtuous I decided to use the water from the previous day’s tank evacuation before the mossies started developing another nursery. Initially when we moved in I had been concerned about my deteriorating vision when looking out the bathroom louvres… strange it was just in the bathroom … soft focus … it was quickly established that the mosquito screens were FILTHY and we were looking through a film of dust and grime. So climbing up onto the counters I carefully removed the framed screens and lined them up outside. Remembering which screen fitted each window. They needed dry brushing, then soapy wash and then rinsing, the muddy water coming off them was like the Zambezi in flood. The result is AMAZING… I can see clearly now and the amount of extra light coming in is great. So that’s five screens down … quite a few to go.

So yesterday as well as quite a few other non insurmountable but irritating problems one after another, three new bee families started to make a home in the main trunk of our beloved Flamboyant tree and swarming to boot. They had decided that the kitchen sink was the best place for water and they hung onto the bottom of the kitchen tap, in the mugs in the sink etc etc. They were also dying on the floor, a trap for any unsuspecting barefoot walker. So the Barbados bee expert was consulted. A Texan drawl lecture crawl began and boy did it crawl on. We had several options … live with them … ok but out of the kitchen yes? Yes put down shallow trays of water near the nest that you have to change every other day to prevent mosquitoes, stop wearing perfume, don’t have any sweet food exposed in the kitchen etc etc etc or …… chop down the tree …..cue … gasp of horror by me. No way well I’m not doing that……. Look at it …

We are giving them bees a little time to settle in. All windows are closed so they hopefully will forget the washing up. Let’s see and hope they make a sensible decision.

So given yesterday’s traumas there was no energy for a blog hence the radio silence. This morning we thought this is going to be a better day. Richard declared “I’m in the hammock” and so he was.