ottahand7

Good Friday morning! Thanks to all of you who sent supportive messages on Wednesday on the anniversary of my late DH's passing, it really meant a lot. Thanks for the Fleet and Daily reports Sandi and Rich. Today's quote is a good one, not a fan of poetry and like all comedy, clean and raunchy. I am looking forward to photos of today's port. The cocktail looks kind of strange and the wine too hard to find. Will wait for today's meal and congratulations to @dfish DS's retirement. Lake City Michigan is a charming small town and it is truly on a big lake. They have a great breakfast restaurant that we hit sometimes on our drives up to the cabin. @marshhawk Sorry about your Iriving, it is never easy. @St Pete Cruiser I am so sorry you had to end your cruise. I hope you get out of the hospital soon. Last night's talk on Deer and Vole Control at the library went really well and it is always nice to have people that are engaged and want to be there rather than sometimes being a featured speaker at a garden club where some members may have no interest. And I made it home in time to watch the 4th pick in the NFL draft. Great news for the Ravens yesterday and an excellent WR pick in last night's draft. No picks second round for the Ravens unless they trade up. Until they signed Lamar and OBJ I was probably not going to pay for YouTube NFL streaming but I guess I will now. Have a nice day. Nancy

Good morning, A beautiful morning and hopefully the last freeze of the season. We have rainy weather for the weekend but I will try to get a lot done outside today. Yesterday I got three bags of mulch spread and some more plants dug out of that bed for our plant sale. I will do the front flower bed today. Tonight is my Deer and Vole Control talk at the local library. Sandi and Rich thank you for starting our Daily and Fleet Reports for us each day. Thanks for the port photos from the Azores Sandi. I will pass on the meal, cocktail and the pricy wine. Prayers for all on our care list, especially for those in our group that had surgeries recently and for the people of Ukraine. Have a great day! Nancy

@bennybear @kazu prayers for you both with medical procedures today. @kochleffel Thank you for giving us the information on Hedy Lamarr. Today is a somber day for me as it is the anniversary of my DH's passing in 2015. Thankfully I was with him at the hospice as he took his last breaths at 9:26 PM. RIP Gary Lewis Thanks for the Daily and Fleet Reports and @StLouisCruisers and @grapau27 thanks for the photos of today's port. It looks like a nice place to visit sometime. I will pass on all of the comestibles. Thanks for researching these for us each day. Prayers for all on our care list and the people of Ukraine. Have a nice day! Nancy

@dfish Happy Birthday!

I understand the trip was quite long so that is only the word of warning on that tour. It can be quite chilly down there and especially if the boats are open. If I recall when I weighed the excursions offered by HA there was the long one and then there was a steeply priced speedboat offering in half the time. We opted not to do it because I had booked so many other shore excursions on the trip. Only so much money to spend on such a long cruise. I bet the Viator tours might be cheaper and less time in the boat. I am quoting this purely off from memory of our decision process on not to book this shorex. Hope it helps. Nancy

@cruzn single Prayers for your Mohs surgery today. I hope the cancer is small and well-contained. I had it done about 10 years ago - prepare for big bandages. @ger_77 Happy birthday to your DH!

@cunnorl It is a good idea to book other penguin viewing instead of putting "all eggs in one basket" as I did. Volunteer Point was to be my penguin viewing trip but we missed the Falklands. I would highly recommend the Ballestas Islands. It was fun but very few penguins but many other birds. Probably depends on the time of the year.

@cunnorl It is a good idea to book other penguin viewing instead of putting "all eggs in one basket" as I did. Volunteer Point was to be my penguin viewing trip but we missed the Falklands. I would highly recommend the Ballestas Islands. It was fun but very few penguins but many other birds. Probably depends on the time of the year.

For penguin day. Here is a wee Humboldt Penguin. Ballestas Islands

Our photos from Manta and some food porn and wine porn from our PG that night. Assistant Wine Steward Carl Kevin opening our carried on wine that night.

Good morning everyone. Another gloomy cool day here in Michigan with a freeze coming tonight. Lately we have dodged the freeze because it has been cloudy. I will probably cover the plant sale plants with a drop cloth tonight so they continue to look perfect but their growth sure has slowed. @StLouisCruisers thanks for doing out Daily and Fleet Reports and thanks to @richwmn for doing all the prep work for us. Today's dish looked bad until @dfish added the one made with meat. Kind of looks like the pot roast I am going to be baking today. @summer slope the drink looks very tasty but it would be one of the ones I drink too fast because it tastes so darn good. @cat shepard the wine today also looks outstanding. @superoma thanks for keeping our C&C reports up to date for us. Prayers for all on our list and the people of Ukraine. We were in Manta this year on January 11. I will try to find some photos from our visit on my phone. The weather from Sandi's and @cruising sister photos look kind of like the dingy weather we had when there. Have a nice day! Nancy

We have booked them on most classes of HA ships. The stewards up there took terrific care of us but we found one drawback and that is wind when the ship is at sea. Our stewards seemed hurt when we bailed out but even inside the cabana the wind issues made us uncomfortable. There were mainly in Caribbean itineraries.

Good Monday morning! Off to get blood drawn, to the Secretary of State to get John's handicap card renewed and then probably Home Depot to get bagged mulch for my garden beds. It is only going to be in the 40s today so it is a day to get "stuff" done so it warms up I can work outside again. I just don't enjoy working outside in the cold. @StLouisCruisers and Rich thanks for starting us out each morning with the reports Armenian Genocide should have a day each year, lest we forget. Pass on the Pigs in Blankets and I don't feel like screaming today. I have been to Puerto Quetzal in 2017 on the Oosterdam. We just got off the ship and enjoyed excellent cold beers under the red building in Sandi's photos. The photos of inland looks like it is a place to book a shore excursion next time we visit. I will pass on the Eggplant and the Melon but the Cabernet wine looks wonderful. Thank you @superoma for maintaining our care and celebrations lists for us. Prayers for all needing them, those on our care list and the people of Ukraine. Have a nice Monday! Nancy

Yes we had brunches on the Volendam. We never went except for Rijstaffel that was the same format. When it started on the Volendam they served you a sampling of the offerings on a single plate. It looks like the hot course is still offered as a sampler. It is probably much easier on the kitchen and the waiters.

@marshhawk and @cunnorl Happy Birthday!! We are getting ready to head up to Holland to enjoy the tulips. I know there are a lot in bloom because a movie starring Nicole Kidman is going to start filming in Holland and the TV news use the tulips as a backdrop to their stories. Sandi and Rich, thanks for starting us off with the Daily and Fleet Reports. @StLouisCruisers thanks for the photos of Alotau, the port photos remind of of Icoarci where we arrived to go to Belem by bus. Really poor. I will pass on everything in the comestible department. Too high in carbs and too hard to get. @smitty34877 it sounds like they are trying to get Tana's oxygen situation straightened out. I hope they keep the back up tanks there permanently. Prayers for all on our care list and for the people of Ukraine. Have a nice Sunday! Nancy

@smitty34877 Prayers that Tana's O2 issues can be solved quickly. Nancy

Good morning. Thanks for starting our morning with the beautiful photos of Falmouth Sandi. It looks like you had a great time. Thanks for the Daily and Fleet Reports each day. All three of the comestibles look like winners to me though the Ravioli would be a little too high carb for me. @superoma thanks for taking care of our Daily Care and Celebrations list. So happy to see our members embarking soon on cruises. Prayers for all on our care list and the people of Ukraine. We are heading to Costco in a few minutes. I ran out of the great potting mix that they sell and my DS told me it is now on sale. I need two bags for all my container plants at the cabin. We have a lot of cooler weather so it makes sense to get it done today. We may drive to Holland, Michigan tomorrow to look at the tulips. Their Tulip Festival is always the first weekend in May but my tulips are all open so I imagine there will be quite a nice show when we just drive through the city admiring them. Have a great Saturday! Nancy

@mamaofami Sincere Get Well wishes to your DH. @Rowsby Happy birthday. I am sure that cake from the Good Roths will be very tasty too. @JazzyV Bon voyage!

No lighting around the bed but there is sensitive motion sensor lights in the hallway to the bathroom.

Good Friday morning! Our project went smoothly yesterday and 450 well rooted Dogwood trees were bagged, wet potting mix added and tagged in 2 hours. The weather for the project was great for once. Next big project for me is a talk at a local library on deer and vole control techniques next Thursday. Thanks for starting us off with the Daily and Fleet Reports Sandi. I loved kindergarten and for most of the school year I went for both morning and afternoon sessions and had lunch with my teacher. The school system didn't want to send a bus 10 miles to and fro to bring me home midday. Like Sandi my little sister had a mean teacher and I enjoyed hearing her stories about what happened in class each day. We will be visiting Nuka Hiva in March 2025. Thanks for the photos Sandi! @superoma thanks for picking up the cares and celebrations reports for us. Prayers for all on our care list and for the people of Ukraine. Thanks for the comestibles each day too. I will pass on all three. Have a great Friday and those traveling, safe travels. Nancy

Good morning from rather gloomy SW Michigan. It is supposed to get to the high 70s but I doubt it. Today I do volunteer work. Our garden club purchases bare root saplings and we bag them in a plastic bag with moistened potting mix, tie them shut with a label and then next week they go to 3rd graders in my town and the next town over for Arbor Day. This year it is our native dogwood. Sandi thanks for doing the Daily and Fleet Reports to start us off each morning. Thank you for the photos of NZ Fjord country. It is beautiful. @JazzyV I am glad your are cleared for your upcoming cruise in 2 days and I am sure you are excited. Prayers for all on our care list and the people of Ukraine. @Mr. Boston Safe travels to Michigan and thinking of you in the loss of your DS. Have a lovely day! Nancy

When we boarded the Volendam in December they had no Laphroig Scotch. When I asked for a shot they said they were out. Since their drink list says the cocktail Penicillin has Laphroig I asked what do us in that and we were told they "substitute". Thankfully for the 74 day Grand SA they stocked it. They only had one good bourbon Bulleit and Jim Beam in the well. Boy they sure had their Gin selection though. It is so varied what is in the bars from ship to ship. We ran out of soy sauce before we hit Brazil and it took a couple days to get more. They bought a concentrate and didn't know enough to dilute it even though it looked like syrup. Several days without limes so lemons were offered with cocktails. Then we ran out of cookie dough and were without cookies for a week because a pallet of dough disappeared. Overall for such a long cruise traveling through many countries we did pretty well not running out, but the lack of stocking of key cocktail liquors was kind of bad.

@marshhawk Happy Birthday!

Good morning. Another freezing morning in Michigan. It is really a problem for the fruit orchards because the 80s started the budding process. All my plant sale plants are perennials and they are up against the warm garage and they look just fine. Sorry I missed yesterday, minor surgery which was a repeat of 5 years ago. I felt fine when I was home at 11:30 but after lunch I promptly fell asleep for 3 hours. All is well. Thanks for the Daily and Fleet Reports Sandi and Rich. Sandi I remember your beautiful photos from Flam from last year, especially the guy in the wig brought back my recall. What a beautiful place to stop. I will pass on the Tilapia, we aren't big on farmed fish, a weird cocktail with sage in it but the Craggy Range sounds like a winner. John had a 1/2 case of 2005 when he moved in and the bottles were still good. @JazzyV thanks for keeping our care and celebrations list. Prayers for all on our care list, the continuing list of shooting victims and for the people of Ukraine. I will try to bundle up later today and get some outside cleanup. I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday. Nancy

@Mr. Boston Deepest sympathy to you and your family on the passing of your brother. Everyone must be devastated. @marshhawk I hope that your DH gets over what is going on quickly. What a difference a day makes. Today it is snowing. Thankfully the streets are still warm from the 80s last week that it is melting quickly. Thanks for starting us off each day while Rich continues on his world cruise. I have had today's wine in previous years when it was owned by the original owners. Price is the same since the 90s but now I think it is owned by Jackson Family Estates, most known for their Kendall-Jackson wines. I will pass on the recipe and that cocktail looks like something for breakfast not Happy Hour. Sandi thanks for the photos of today's port, it looks like a place we would love to visit. Prayers for everyone on our Care list, the multiple shooting victims and the people of Ukraine. Have a great Monday! Nancy