D&N

I've a copy of Notes 6.5 on my old PC, which has latest Windows 10 updates. It's not been used for 7 years but worked to access the local archive last time I wanted to check something. Not risking Windows 11 until I know a bit more about how printer and scanner will work on it.

Carmel is ok'ish. We think her back legs are a bit shaky at times and how she sits to drink water suggests weakness. However she can still jump 70cm/27" to get to my knee on the swivel chair. Remarkably she weighs 2.65kg today, the same as she was 10 days ago, so hasn't lost any more. She wasn't much heavier when she came from rescue 8 years ago but average in recent years has been 3.3kg. She has now decided she will only eat the Gourmet Revelations and only when fed from finger tip. Today she turned her nose up at Sheba Perfect Portions, which could give us a problem if we can't find Chicken Revelations. We took the last packs from shop today. They do have beef and salmon, but not sure she'll eat them. This pair have been the only cats we've had that were not interested in salmon & trout. Their predecessor was known to arrive in middle of dinner table if she hadn't been given some on the floor.

Biggles looks happy! Some promising signs with Carmel. Yesterday we got through a whole 57g Gourmet Revelations Chicken mousse and a 50g Gourmet Mon Petit Intense. Names might be different in UK. She'll wolf into the mousse but gets distracted easily (probably the eyesight) and moves off, but I can load some on my finger tip and she happily licks it from there. Probably ate half of it that way. Takes ages but there isn't anything more important in life! The mousse also worked well this morning to get her to lick her crushed beta-blocker from my finger tip. When we came back from gym this morning she had even eaten a very small amount of the cheap Friskies I had left out in case she was hungry. Not doing that with the expensive stuff as it dries out very quickly. Now to try and get her up to 150g/day. I think she can maintain her weight if she eats that much. We're resigned to not having her for much longer. I'm OK with her going due to chronic organ failure, but not due to starvation if I can help it.

We were in Britannia Club, although I would be surprised if basic requests couldn't be catered for in MDR. My wife certainly recalls asking for a main without potatoes and receiving extra vegetables instead.

Carmel was distraught on Thursday evening, crying around the house looking for her sister. Her breathing/heartrate looked dangerously fast. That seems more normal now. We could hardly get her to nibble anything until Friday night into Saturday morning. She's eating some varieties of food fairly regularly now, but nowhere near enough to maintain weight. She's nearly halfway through a course of ACE Inhibitors for her kidney/blood pressure problems. She'll eat the chicken and turkey versions of "Gourmet" luxury 50g pouches, but not the duck. Looks like we'll have a large supply of duck to gradually mix with cheap food for our next cats. Due to her current condition and her history with other cats we don't think it's a good idea to bring a new cat in to give her company.

Cool enough for a run this morning. Sunrise over Nice Airport, although the sun is hiding! Even caught a plane taking off, if the resolution on the upload allows that detail.

We didn't travel on QM2 to drink in our cabin, except water to avoid dehydration. We took 3 bottles of Pol Acker that bred in the fridge home. One was used in our version of Spritz and was very nice. The 2nd was drunk as intended. It was heavily chilled in fridge, as were the glasses. It was then placed in a bucket of ice and water for about 30 minutes, with salt added to lower the melting temperature. It was a very hot evening and we may have got it colder serving when the ambient temperature was not 32C. I poured it at an angle to avoid it fizzing up to keep as much fizz in drink as possible. It tasted quite pleasant. Lightly creamy and fruity if not with depth of a decent champagne. It doesn't claim to be champagne. It states "Blanc de Blancs", which is made from 100% white grapes, very often all Chardonnay. Pol Acker doesn't say that, I assume it is a blend. Most champagne uses the white flesh of red grapes in the blend to achieve a depth of flavour and aftertaste. Compared to the many Blanc de Blancs sparkling wines we have tried in France it scored favourably with us. The label states to serve at 5-8C. That is incredibly cold. If you can't wait to drink it when you find it in your cabin, don't blame the wine for your inability to serve it as intended! 🍸

We didn't have it or see anyone around us being served it. But it clearly stated "original 1953 recipe". Therefore it should have been prepared as detailed in this link: http://thedabbler.co.uk/2012/06/constance-sprys-original-coronation-chicken/ It should have contained at least 75% poached chicken, and been somewhat different from the paste sold as sandwich filler in supermarkets.

Sadly our beautiful cat Hazel died earlier today. She had been in good health but on returning from gym this morning we found her dribbling, weak and in obvious distress. I ran with her to vets, which is nearby but diagnosis was untreatable heart & lung problem. After a brief discussion she was euthanised to prevent more suffering. We have been concerned that her sister Carmel is losing her sight and not eating well. Now she’s anxious because her sister has gone. It will be a challenge to keep her healthy!

I ruled out the collections. Would only consider 5 on Captains and 4 on Commodore. Probably break even on 6 (taking account of 15% on individual bottles) and make a saving on 12. But those I'd consider probably wouldn't be first choice, so we'd end up drinking same wines for two weeks. And if I wanted a particular wine to go with a dish, I'd be ordering outside the package anyway.

Endicott Arm Fjord. I hadn't actually looked for that one on list. Sorry.

Has to be Dawes Glacier. Several photos have the same rock formation detail. The cross near foot of foreground mountain/hill in centre of pic, the tree branch effect further left on same mountain. Some photos credited as having been taken from Celebrity Solstice.

About half an hour behind @bluemarble Spotted CEISA but kept finding smaller ports. Google 3D view suggests they've painted over the name recently. That must have been exciting to watch though. A new activity in suitable ports; Tender Racing! 😂

I posted scans of a week's Britannia Club menus. My understanding is that the daily varying menus are the same in Britannia, the difference being that club had the extra A la Carte menu. We prefer rice, pasta & bread for our carbs and ate considerably more potatoes than normal during our round trip. If you want potatoes at every meal, even with pasta and rice dishes, I would recommend P&O.

Lastly a photo actually taken from Cannes itself.

Queen Elizabeth tender operation at Cannes

From ferry.

From jetty at Ile St Marguerite this afternoon.

And today we're having a swim. This is our favourite cove on other side of Ile St Marguerite from Queen Elizabeth.

We had a successful day yesterday at the Foire aux vins in our local store. Photo of one of each lined up on parade.

Last till afternoon

Boat rocking a bit. Is she chasing us,?

And another

First shot from ferry at Cannes today

Marine Traffic show her slightly closer to island, which should be good for photos from ferry and island.