StanleyandGus

1 hour ago, Keksie said:

I am too excited to keep the secret but Samantha is getting a little sister in June.  First picture of Annabel:

 

 

 

 

What a beautiful kitten! Very tufty ears!

Thank you for taking us along!
 

Thanks for taking us with on your travels! 

2 hours ago, Lionesss said:

Ham and scalloped potato recipe. 
 

Ingredients:

7-8 potatoes. ( good medium size) . (Slice into 1/4 inch diameter that they look like big coins). 

1/4 cup flour

pinch salt

2 cups milk. ( I use 2%)

1 stick margarine 

1 medium onion. Diced 
2 pounds of ham. ( I have always used the one on sale from Virginia to chip chop). 
1 pound velveeta cheese
 

 

Pre heat a clean oven to 325 degrees 

spray a deep dish casserole with PAM. 

Combine salt,  1 1/2 cup milk and flour and mix well.  (Leave 1/2 cup milk put aside) 
 

into the casserole you will layer. 
start by pouring that plain cup milk in casserole 
place one layer potatoes try to cover as much of bottom as you can. 

1/3 of onion spread over potatoes

1/3 of ham

1/3 velveeta over ham Does not have to completely cover. Spread out. 
pour 1/3 cup of milk/ flour mixture. 

repeat as above starting with potatoes 

potatoes

onions

ham 

velveeta

milk mixture 

Repeat one last time. 
 

finally cut up stick of margerine and place spreading on top.  
 

The casserole potatoes will not be completely covered with mixture  but will thicken as it cooks and potatoes cook. 

 

cover with aluminum foil 

place on oven safe drip pan. 
 

Usually takes 2 hours to cook 

 

cook first 1 1/2 hours covered 

remove cover cook last 30 min for golden brown potatoes. 

 

Remove put on trivets to rest and gel for 10 min. 

 

The reason you use 325 temp is you do not want casserole bottom to burn. 
and that is why you put plain milk on bottom so flour milk mixture wont burn. 
 

enjoy we do. 

 

 

Thank you! That sounds perfect for a cold day- hammy, potato-y and cheesy.

It’s 16 degrees here,  which is lovely (61 Fahrenheit). The last tiny bit of snow has melted!

@Lionesss, is there a recipe for the ham and scalloped potato casserole? I think Chris would like it, since it involves two of his favourite foods!

27 minutes ago, George C said:

Love the Amazing Mrs Maisel , been watching Breaking Bad will finish that shortly.

I stopped watching it because of the profanity. I was born in the 60’s, but I don’t remember my mother swearing! Maybe New York was totally different than the north coast of British Columbia, but even the word “bum” was a little racy!

7 hours ago, Lionesss said:

She just found out she is pregnant and due in December. 

How wonderful! Congratulations to Christina and Brandon. Many people on this thread said grandchildren are great- they were so right!
 

Today we were taking up grass to replant some roses on the side of the house. They were back garden, but we are redoing that garden. There will be nothing poisonous or thorny, so kids and animals can be safe. 

I am enjoying this so much that I’m looking into a cruise on this ship! 

@Lionesss it’s very hard. Even though she wants to be alone, I think she can tell that you love her. And that’s all we can do, for people or for animals.

Sending you a virtual hug. 

I wish I could write like you! I am thoroughly enjoying your review. We have only cruised on smaller ships, but this review is making me rethink that!
 

11 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

That movie traumatized me as a kid. That and Bambi. I never cried that hard as a kid.

I rented Bambi for my 4 year old. I had never seen it, and I thought it would be a nice movie for a mom and son to see together. 
 

That moment…. dumb horror…and my son says, “Well, I guess his mom is venison now”. 
 

He grew up, joined the military, and hunts. 

A little bit jealous of the gardening talk…our snow is almost gone!
 

I was looking at the garden today. Jackrabbit poop is organic fertilizer.

We arrived 4 days early, and I’m glad we did. We stayed at the Albergo Abruzzi, right opposite the Pantheon. It was amazing. 
 

If you’re good walkers, most things are within walking distance, including the Colosseum. We did, in no particular order, a guided tour of the Colosseum with Walks of Italy, the Jewish quarter and the Appian Way, also with Walks of Italy, Nero’s Golden House, and the Borghese gallery.

We used Rome in Limo for airport pickup and transportation to the port.

1 hour ago, Husky1987 said:

Yesterday was tough, but cathartic.  We buried my Mom yesterday, on what would have been her 91st birthday. Working through the grieving process since she passed, I’ve tried my best to consciously turn my sadness into gratefulness. So lucky to have a mom who filled my life with such unconditional love that could have caused a loss this deep.

Growing up, my mom wanted to be two things: a nurse and a mom. I can say with all confidence she was the best at both.

She worked for over a decade at Swedish Hospital in Seattle as the private surgical scrub nurse for Dr. Bill Hutchinson, one of the best surgeons in the world and the founder of the Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center. She may have had THE prime nursing job in Seattle, and was damn good at it.

And she gave it all up, a week before I was born, in the prime of her career at 33, to be a mom. She loved being a mom, always involved in everything my brother and I were doing, from PTA to baseball to soccer to skiing.  We spent a good part of most summers on our boat in the San Juan Islands and on Hood Canal. She told me many times that the happiest time of her life was carrying me, knowing she was going to be a mom.

She and my dad started cruising in the mid-80's, and by the time my dad's health caused them to stop in 2009 after about 25 years of cruising they had been on 35+ cruises, almost all with Royal.  Grateful that they passed their love of cruising on to me 🙂 

Appreciate the fact that I can "journal" my thoughts here...

What a lovely tribute to an obviously adored mother!

8 minutes ago, StanleyandGus said:

I always find it easier to listen than to talk, and I am somewhat quiet, so even when I speak, sometimes people don’t hear. 
 

I’m you had a lovely evening!

That was supposed to say I’m glad you had a lovely evening!

9 hours ago, laurieal said:

If you have good one on one banter with strangers or are good at conversation, I’m sure it would be a very fun solo experience. I’m kind of awkward with strangers, especially if there’s a theatre-like element to the interaction. I would still have enjoyed my meal solo, but I know I would have spent most of the time trying to avoid eye contact with the Mad Hatter. 
 

We had a chat with him after the meal while he wasn’t in character and it was absolutely lovely. Much more comfortable for me. 

I always find it easier to listen than to talk, and I am somewhat quiet, so even when I speak, sometimes people don’t hear. 
 

I’m you had a lovely evening!

I went grocery shopping yesterday. We haven’t had to mask in Saskatchewan for several weeks, but most people were, more than when the mask mandate was dropped. I was wearing a K95 mask. 

People appear to be taking the upswing in cases seriously, at least for Regina. 

16 hours ago, laurieal said:

A lot of you mentioned doing transatlantics in the past or having one booked in the future. What was everyone’s favourite transatlantic crossing (ship/itinerary) and why? 

I have only done one TA, with another one booked.

We like sea days. I was concerned that they might be boring, but what with trivia, exercising, going to lectures etc the day passes nicely! We went to the Canaries, which was new for us, and got several bottles of Malvasia wine (all declared).

Lanzarote is amazing, I have never seen a landscape like that. Very volcanic.

We also stopped at Coco Key and had a great day. 
 

4 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

DH has just informed me that he is off to obedience training with Max, our rescue this weekend.  Last year, he had private lessons with a lady who did amazing things with Max but DH could not reciprocate what she did at home.  Be interesting to see what the outcome of this weekend will be.  Max is a 4 year old border collie/German shepherd mix and very strong on the lead.  DH just wants Max to walk calmly on the lead from the outset.

We are anticipating having our son’s dog until Christmas- he’s military and is deploying. The cats have met him; they weren’t particularly impressed! He’s a German Shepherd, and turns one in June. He’s reasonably well trained, but we’re going to do classes with him as well.

 I love your photos- we are having a very snowy Spring, so photos of colour are nice!

Enjoy the sun! I hope when you’re back home it will truly be Spring.
 

We are doing a TA in November from Barcelona on a much smaller ship.

Have a wonderful cruise! 
 

Please come back after the cruise and tell us how it went- right now, you should be putting your feet up by the pool and having a drink!

We tried to hand over about 6 bottles in Barcelona. The port staff was mystified. No matter how much we said it had to be locked away, they wouldn’t cooperate!
 

The wine spent the  transatlantic in our closet.

Which is to say, I guess it depends on your port of departure. The Spanish perspective is, I think- it’s yours, you bought it, and if you want to drink it, cheers!

We claimed everything, by the way. 11 bottles (there were stops in the Canary Islands…😁)

6 hours ago, Coralc said:

 

Our neighbors just removed their river rock fireplace and their brick fireplace and replaced them both with sheetrock and electric digital fireplaces with heaters. They kind of got rid of the whole fireplace thing altogether. It looks very modern.  Our fireplace and hearth are brick. I will not paint brick. Whoever buys the house can paint it, but I won't. 

This is my (apparently sideways) fireplace. It’s incredibly ugly. It’s in my family room. We’re thinking of removing all the brick, and replacing the fireplace with something (anything) more modern. The thing that’s holding us back is that it’s directly linked to the gas line- no electricity is involved. There have been a couple days this winter that we were glad to have it!

Ugh. -31 C, which Google tells me is -23.8 F. Definitely hat weather!

43 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Today is my son’s RFA procedure, then they will have him in a back brace for a week.  We are all hoping it gets rid of some of his pain.  He will have to go back for a second one, because they are only doing one half at a time.

Is RFA radio-frequency ablation? If it is, Chris has been having it done 3 or 4 times a year, and it’s very successful in managing pain. 
 

Best of luck to your son!