Quartzsite Cruiser

We have been to Lerwick three times, and in 2003, we had to miss it. The Rotterdam was caught in a bad storm between Greenland and Canada for two days, so we had to cut one port. Our first visit was in 2009 on the Tahitian Princess, and we took the tour to Scalloway Castle. In 2017, we were in Lerwick twice on the Prinsendam. The first time we walked around town, which being there on a Sunday, meant most stores were closed. The second time, we rented a car and drove around the island. I'll post pictures of our walk around town in another post. These are from our drive around the island. Sumbergh Head and the lighthouse Jarlshof, the site of the remains of a Viking village To get to the southern tip of the island and Sumbergh Head, you had to drive across the airport runway, so the road was closed when a plane was landing or taking off. Scenery along the road heading back to Lerwick and the part of the island north of town. A couple of interior pictures of Scalloway Castle Scenes from the northern part of the island Lenda

Good morning from what can be best described as a yuck day in central Texas. It is very overcast with a 6mph wind. The Weather Channel app says it's 81F and feels like 82F. It was foggy earlier this morning with 100% humidity and a dew point of 78F. Now, the humidity is down to 98% but the dew point is up to 80F. Our high is supposed to be 95F. I got my walk in, but it got uncomfortable about 3/4s of the way through. I'll gladly celebrate nature photography and smile power. BUT, someone else can have my prunes. The Emerson quote is true, but sometimes hard to follow even though I try to be myself. The meal sounds looks good, and we have salmon and veggies. I'll probably try it in the air fryer, but maybe substitute dill for the rosemary. We'll pass on the drink and might try the wine next time we're in NZ. @grapau27 Graham, thank you for the information on the Magna Carta. We saw it in the British Library in 2009. We have been to Lerwick at least three times, and I'll repost my pictures in a few minutes. @ottahand7 Nancy, thank you for the lovely nature pictures. @marshhawk Annie, I hope your DH gets a good report from his physical. @Oceans Away Welcome, home. @ger_77Gerry, no problem about "stealing" the bacon meme. I stole it from someone on FB. 😁 @St Pete CruiserI'm sorry about the loss of your friend from all the smoke. Condolences to you and his family and friends. Barbara Haney was a wonderful port lecturer, and that was because she had been to the ports. Lenda

I've used it with pictues posted on Ancestry, but also with pictures I've taken on cruises when I did remember what building or site we visited. It's amazing what you can find on the Internet. Lenda

Good evening. We were under a tornado watch earlier, but everything was north and east of us. Late this afternoon, the area north and east of Dallas was getting heavy storms. It seems warmer and muggier now than it did twomhours ago. It is 9:20 and it is 86F out. If the picture is on your computer, you could use Google to do a search of the picture. All you need to do is right click on the picture. At the bottom of the menu box click on search with Google. When the search window opens click on the picture. It's surprising how many pictures I've been able to identify and either reject or accept. Terri, I'm glad the tornado warning is over. I'm sorry the perdon at the PO was so difficult. I'm sorry you are still gaving problems, and I hope you get an answer soon. I also hope it's not C-Diff. Lenda

Today, I definitely celebrated Family History Day by delving deeper into the past. Today, there were only a few discrepancies, which were easily solved with one exception. I'm pretty sure one female ancestor had two husbands, but the dates were such that it was difficult to determine which came first. I made an educated guess, mainly using the name that was most often associated with the child in question, and just left the other one off the family tree. Gerry, it's good your friend does not have an recurrence of the cancer, but I'm sorry about the IBS. I hope the vascular surgery on his legs in a few weeks will help and the recovery will not be too difficult. I'm glad your cousin is still looking and acting fine, and that you had a good visit with him. Roy, that is interesting and probably safer. We've seen more and more regular stop signs with the red led lights. Paul, I can't help wondering if we might have some distant relatives in common. 😉 There are several who's trees I see on Ancestry that have the incorrect information, which can be corrected with a little digging on Google. I think they just want to claim the more famous or important person in the tree even if it is not the right one. I've found many of the correct ancestors who are not well known in history to have been pretty interesting and even some that were a bit strange. Lenda

Good afternoon. The new cover for the car came today, and we put it on before it got too hot outside. The old cover was too big, and this one is almost too small so some of the seams are pulled tight. This may help keep it on the car in high winds. Otherwise, not a lot going on here. Terri, the upgrade at the hotel is lovely and I know you'll enjoy the extra room. It's nice when you don't have to rush to get to your destination. Annie, I'm happy you can sleep in your bed again and get more rest. I hope the cough goes away soon. Tell Chuck I'm happy he is still not smoking, and I'm glad you are cutting down. The list may help you figure out what triggers the need to smoke so you can find something to substitute in its place. I hope the therapy and splint will help your hand and wrist. Thank you, Sandi. We both like a lot of icing so I generally make 1 1/2 to 2 batches of icing for the cakes. Linda, I'm sorry about the longer than expected hike in all that heat and humidity. Lenda

HAPPY FLAG DAY! I don't have a picture of the US flag, but this is the flag cake I made for July 4, 2020. Good morning from a warm and humid central Texas. It is 80F with a dew point of 76F and 88% humidity. We are heading to 100 degree days without much rain. Friday will be 100F but Saturday will only be 99F 😁 but cloudy. I think I'll wait until Saturday to mow and hope the prediction of clouds holds. 🤞 I got my walk in about an hour ago when it was about 76F, and it wasn't too bad. I've had bourbon in the past, but we don't have any in the house. A salute to the Army on its birthday. I have been delving into my families history for the past six months and find it interesting. There is still a lot of family and DH's family left to look into. The Suzanne Collins quote is true, and even though we can't freeze a special moment, we do have our memories. I think we'll pass on the meal, drink and wine today. We have not been to Red Bay -- yet. I wonder how many diehard fans stayed until the end of that baseball game. Graham, @grapau27 I'll add my two cents worth of information on the Panama Canal. We have done 14 complete canal transits and have never had a problem with mosquitoes. DH is a mosquito magnet, so I know they are bad when I get bitten too. BTW, we never had a problem on Devil's Island, the Amazon River, or places in west Africa. When we got our last yellow fever shot, I asked the nurse if we needed any other shots for any of the places that are problematic, and she said if were were only there during the day, we should not have a problem. Terry, @smitty34877 I'm sorry yesterday was a rough day, but am glad the tumor is treatable. I found it interesting that the chemo is given during the surgery. Sending you both positive thoughts for the surgery and recovery, which I hope will be an easy one. You are lucky to have the support and help of your family. @lcand1923 I understand. There are many days when I think I've made page 1 only to have a couple of post appear to put me on page 2 just as I post.😀 Sharon, @Sharon in AZ safe travels to Mt. Lemmon today, and enjoy your week in the cooler weather. Denise, @Denise T if retiring is financially doable, I'd say go for it. Both our fathers waited to travel until they retired, and their travels were curtailed by ill health. They advised us to travel while we were young and healthy. We've followed their advice until 2020 when the world stopped. Lorraine, @cruising sister my guess is the woman is jealous of your friendship with the widower, and is afraid you want to take your friend's place in his life. I'm not sure how you could persuade her that is not the case. Hopefully, time will help her realize that you and the widower are friends. Sharon @Sharon in AZ could be correct that she is jealous that you are doing so well as a recent widow. Lenda

Good evening after a very frustrating afternoon. Just after 3pm we lost the internet, and we didn't get it back until after 10 pm tonight. We got an email time stamped 8:52 saying the outage had been resolved, but it didn't come in until after 10. Even the hot spots on our phones were not working most of the time. You don't realise how much you rely on thr internet until it goes out. Carolyn, the one I use is in the regular grocery aisle and only has noodles (made with whear flour), sauce, and peanuts. I haven’t seen it recently, but they have another kit under a different name. Lenda

Good afternoon. It was a busy morning, and I've finally finished putting everything away and the other chores. The stop at the Post Office was interesting as it pertained to our PO Box in Quartzsite. They do not have home delivery there, and everyone who owns property gets a free PO Box. Naturally, there there is a catch. Each year, there is a form we have to fill out that we at still at the address and that no information has changed. For some reason, we have to fill out the form in June, and until last year it was as easy as filling it out and putting it in an envelope and mailing. Oh, it has to be mailed and received between June 1 and June 30. Last year, the new Postmaster in Q decided to enforce the regulations more, so now we have to prove we actually at "attached" to the property and prove we are the person listed on the other form. If you are not in Q, you must take the form, and the two items of proof into a Post Office and have them verify on the form that all is in order. Since most POs don't offer free boxes, the employees including the Postmaster, are in the dark about the requirement. Finally, all was in order and the Postmaster even hand canceled the letter too. DH has a follow up with the back surgeon next Wednesday and needs an x-ray of his back. The surgeon's office called last week and said they'd send the order to our PCP for the x-ray. We had not heard anything today, and since the x-ray technician is only there on Wednesdays, he called the surgeon's office and they were going to send the order this week, but would send it today. DH called the PCP's office and found out that the technician is only there on Wednesday afternoons and she's booked for tomorrow. Next Wednesday won't work because the appointment is at 12:45 and we'd have to leave home about noon. The order will be sent to one of two nearby hospitals, which means more time spent getting there and back and more paperwork. Now days, you really have to stay on top of medical issues and not wait for the doctor's office to act. I'm just happy we decided to check today. The only good thing I can say about all these appointments is they get us out of the house. Talk about a weird social life! 🤣 Annie, I'm glad you had a good dinner for Chuck's birthday, but I'm very sorry it was spoiled by poor service. It was good you spoke to the manager. I'm glad your neighbor finally took the dog to the vet about the eye, but I wish for the dog's sake that she hadn't waited so long. Debbie, I'm glad the surgery had such a positive affect on your sleep and on your body. It is good you could reduce the dosage of the meds. Vanessa, I'm sorry the test yesterday was painful, but glad that everything seemed okay. I hope the MRI will give you some answers. Susan, I'm sorry Bandit was so sick last night, but glad he seems better today. Bruce, while we have not sailed on Azamara, we have sailed on the old R ships on Princess. I always loved the library, and found it was a relaxing, peaceful place to read. It saddens me that the one in your pictures will be turned into a bar Gerry, I'm happy you had a good visit with your friends, but oh no on more smoke. I hope they get the fires out soon. Karen, you are lucky your DS can replace your roof. I'm happy your DH is making progress, and asking to go to Bingo is a very good sign of progress. The wins were icing on the cake. Lenda

We've have been to Key West several times by ship and once on a land trip. We visited Truman's Little White House and the Fisher Museum, and walked by Hemingway's house. Of course, we've also gone to see Sloppy Joe's Bar. Our go to place, is a key lime pie company for a slice of pie and some to take back to the ship. Our last two visits were by cruise ship, both in 2002. For some reason, I did not take many pictures when we were there on the old Noordam, and I did not take any later that year when we were there on the Rhapsody of the Seas. The rest of my pictures are pre-digital. Here are the pictures I took in 2002, and all but one are from the ship. Lenda

Good morning from central Texas. It is already 76F at 7:10 am with a predicted high of 90F. Beginning Friday, our highs will be in the triple digits for at least ten days, but probably longer. Again today, there is a risk of severe weather, but that is normal for this time of year. We were under a tornado watch yesterday, but unlike Sunday night, the storms passed north and south of us. By yesterday afternoon, the neighbors and the tree service had all the downed limbs cleaned up. The tree service had at least three crews here, but then they've been working on trimming the trees in the RV park in the middle of our community. I posted the following last night, but since many may not have seen it, I will repost it now. There are some Dailyites who cannot eat gluten and I think they should have another chance to see this: I must apologize for unintentionally giving out some erroneous information earlier today when I recommended the pad Thai kit for those who cannot have wheat flour. I thought the noodles in the kit were rice noodles. When I checked the ingredients today, the label tonight it said Oriental noodles, and the first ingredient listed was wheat flour. I hope no one who cannot eat gluten bought the pad Thai kit today. As soon as I finish here, I plan to take my walk while it is still comfortable and then run errands. I need to go to the Post Office and the store. With our small flowerbeds, I usually just pull the weeds when I see them. I have a sewing machine, but it is not used much anymore. I was never good at softball. The Les Brown quote is a good one to live by if possible. The meal sounds interesting as does the wine. We'll pass on the drink. We have been to Key West several times on ships, plus we spend one Thanksgiving there when older DD was about 18 months old. The 1373 Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of Perpetual Alliance is a rarity. Treaties rarely last even a fraction of that time. Welcome home Melanie @puppycanducruise. Terry, @smitty34877 I hope there are not surprises with the pre-op appointments and the visit with the surgeon. Sending positive thoughts for your DH as he nears his June 26 surgery. Jacqui @kazu I hope the therapy helps the skin around the incision loosen and that the pain goes away soon. Lenda

Good evening. I must apologize for unintentionally giving out some erroneous information earlier today when I recommended the pad Thai kit for those who cannot have wheat flour. I thought the noodles in the kit were rice noodles. When I checked the ingredients today, the label tonight it said Oriental noodles, and the first ingredient listed was wheat flour. I hope no one who cannot eat gluten bought the pad Thai kit today. Lenda

Thank you, Jacqui. Yes, we do treasure our neighbors who all look after each other. This is especially important as some of us get older, and the younger ones keep an eye on us. I found out part of the neighborhood lost power last night and some are experiencing brownouts today. So far, we have not had any problems. 🤞 Lenda

Good afternoon. It has been getting cloudier all day, except when DH was changing the Sirius receiver in the car and I was washing the dirt out of the port. Our neighbor came over with his big ladder and reinstalled the shutter. It's easy to snap back into the siding, but for the ones on the back of the house, you need a tall ladder and someone who is comfortable on ladders. I'm sorry your recovery has been so rough, but I'm glad you are improving. I hope you're back to normal soon and back on a BHB soon too. Vanessa, I hope the conduction/EMG study goes well, and that you have some answers and a plan to solve any problems. Carolyn, the meal kit I use is Great Value at the big box store. I haven't found it lately, but they have another kit that may be the one I use just renamed. They also had a kit for Korean BBQ using steak, but it worked well on the ribs. I can't find it now, and wish I had purchased more when I bought the second kit. Penny, I'm glad the cruise is going well. With not many sea days and with the ports being visited, I agree an internet package is not a must. Sandi, I can't believe your DD's neighbor did not offer to pay for the damage his shutter caused. It must have been a heavy wooden shutter. Luckily, our shutters are light weight fiberglass, so I doubt they would do much damage. Our neighbor said he found it in his yard. Lenda

In honor of Peanut Butter Cookie Day. Lenda

Chuck, that is the best present you could give yourself and Annie. Best wishes for successfully kicking the smoking habit. I loved the picture from Ketchikan. It's such a beautiful area, and you were very fortunate to have a calm, sunny day. Lenda

Good morning from a mostly sunny central Texas. It is 76F with a predicted high of 91F and a chance of severe thunderstones with wind and hail. It's already been a busy morning. I got up early to get my walk in before it got too hot. Then, I spent about an hour cleaning up the mess from last night's unexpected, very severe thunderstorm that came through about 11 pm. When I looked at the weather radar last night during the storm, we were in the dark red area. We didn't get any real damage, except one of the shutters blew off and our neighbor found it in his yard. He said he'll put it up later. At least that explains the banging we heard in the bedroom. Even with all the rain, the shutters still look good this morning, so I guess they cured enough in 12 hours. The two small tables I keep upside down on the glider when not using them, blew off and the plastic inserts came out. The car covers came part way off the cars, and one that was already in bad shape is just about history and ready for the garage can. I think there was a lot of dirt blowing in the wind that got deposited in the clean port concrete. I'll wash it off a little later this morning. Otherwise, all I needed to do was blow the cedar tree crud and the oak leaves off the driveway and our neighbor's drive way. There were a few branches broken off trees in the neighborhood. Right now, three of our neighbors are already helping one neighbor cut up the large broken branch and hauling it away. That is the nice thing about living in our neighborhood. We all look our for and help each other. I hope Joy @Seasick Sailor did not have a severe thunderstorm or damage last night, since it looked like the storm was also heading her way. While I'm not a fan of jerky (or jerks), we did find some good pepperoni jerky in Tillamook, OR, one summer. Like Roy @rafinmd I like peanuts, but not peanut butter or peanut butter cookies, so someone else can have my cookies. Red roses are nice, but I enjoy a spring bouquet. The Sarah Dessen quote is good and I try not to make snap judgements until I know more, or at least, I try to keep the snap judgements to myself until I know more. 😁 I think we will be having pad Thai tonight, but I generally make it using a kit that has the sauce, rice noodles and peanuts in it and I add two scrambled eggs, veggies and chicken. Younger DD gave me her recipe for pad Thai, but it seems like too much work. I think we'll pass on the drink, but would like to try the wine except it's a bit pricey with shipping added. We have not been to Sharm El Sheikh, but I would love to see it someday. I think convicting Al Capone on tax evasion was a fitting way to end the career of one of the most famous bootleggers. As unpopular as prohibition was, a conviction on those charges might have been difficult. Bruce @aliaschief thank you for your pictures of Obidos. We night make it there someday. Jacqui, @kazu Yikes! 😱 on the bug sting and the reaction. I hope you are feeling better today. @Norseh2o Thank you for the pictures from Vence, France. It looks like a lovely area. Gerry, @ger_77 enjoy your visit with your friends and their daughter. I hope your friend will get some answers to his problem tomorrow, and that it is an easy fix. Lenda

@catmando Chuck, I hope you have a very HAPPY 73RD BIRTHDAY, and many more to follow. Keep in mind what this meme says. Lenda

Good afternoon from a hot (92F) and breezy central Texas. When I went for my walk, it was still about 75F and pleasant. But that changed as the morning progressed. The shutters have been treated, but while it helps, they still do not look as good as they should. It is easy to reach the shutters that are on the front and on the patio, but those on the area above the yard and too high to reach without a ladder. The ground is just uneven enough for me to not be comfortable on the tall ladder without out someone holding it, and even then it's still not the greatest arrangement. I managed to come up with Plan B which while not as efficient worked. I got the tall step ladder and could reach most of the shutters. To reach the top part I used DH's grabber to hold the wiper and treat the shutter. While it was still about 83F when I started, it didn't take long to get very sweaty as the humidity was up and the dew point is 73F. I don't think I've sweated as much since we moved from the Houston area, and that is why we moved. The shutters are almost 23 years old, and were not treated until about five or six years ago. We are thinking about replacing them, or maybe painting them. It's reached the point that we'll have to get someone to take the old shutters down and install the new or repainted shutters. Gerry, how nice of your new friends to give you the lovely shirts as a thank you. Welcome home, Pauline and Graham. DH suspected you were on a cruise. Thank you, Graham. I have to apologize for posting on picture twice in the second group, and forgetting the correct one which was on the bottom of the post. I was in a hurry to get my walk in before it got hot. Love the pictures of the Norwegian fjords. I think I gained 11 pounds or half a stone just looking at your pictures of your meals. 😉 Bruce, I enjoyed your pictures from Fatima, and thank you for telling us about the oak tree. We went to Fatima in 2011, but our guide did not mention the tree. Paul, it looks like you gave your Rabbi a good send off. I hope the new Rabbi will be just as good. Eva, I'm so happy you found the picture. That is definitely one you will treasure. I have enjoyed seeing everyone's pictures of Seville, and thank you for sharing. They bring back good memories of our two days exploring the city. Lenda

Terri, I'm sorry your house cleaner could not make it yesterday, but I'm happy your flare-up has subsided. Lenda

It turns out Cadiz (Seville) was also the port of the day on November 5, 2021. Here is a link to that thread if anyone is interested. The first time we were in Cadiz on April 28, 2004, on Noordam III, we took the train into Seville for the day. We toured the Royal Alcazar and the Plaza de Espana, in addition to taking the Ho-Ho even though it was a rainy day. We saved the Cathedral for our next visit to Seville in 2009. The train The Royal Alcazar The riverfront Plaza de Espana Lenda

I found some pictures from Seville when we were there in 2009 on the Tahitian Princess. That day, we took the transfer into Seville and did the Ho-Ho with time to walk around before catching the bus back to the ship. These pictures are random pictures of Seville that are not of the main tourist attractions. Unfortunately, I don't remember the names of many of them. I always enjoy the different architecture of the city. The bull ring I'm not sure about this building, but it has the look of a train station. Maybe someone can identify it. Pedestrian streets For the garden club and garden club auxiliary to get us in the mood for summer. We were not the only ship in port that day. So even though we were not on a BHB, I can include a BHB in the pictures, Rotterdam VI. Lenda

Good morning from a mostly clear and windy central Texas. It is already 72F at 7 am and the predicted high is 98F. Yesterday, one thermometer read 98F and another 100F, and it was hot when we went to check the mail box. We did get a heavy rain yesterday evening just after we returned from our golf cart ride. The rain chances are less today, so when I finish here, I'll take my walk and then work on the shutters. There is always a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon this time of year, but I'll take my chances today. @StLouisCruisers Sandi, when looking for my pictures of Seville, I found that while the port of the day was Cadiz (Seville) on April 6, 2022, there were some pictures from Seville posted. Here is a link to the Daily from April 6, 2022, if anyone is interested. Our local grocery store has corn on the cob for sale, but I don't think we'll be having any today. King Kamehameha did a lot for his people and deserves a special day. Cousteau with his documentaries taught the world a lot about our oceans and how to protect them. The Marcus Aurelius quote is true on some days. We'll pass on the meal and the drink, but the wine sounds nice. The first recipe looks similar to the one I've used with lemon, garlic and dill. I like the sound of the lime instead of the lemon. Where would those of us in the US be if the Continental Congress had not formed the committee? I suspect we would still have declared our independence at some point. Graham, @grapau27 thank you for the explanations of the days. Jacqui, @kazu that's good news that you finished the paperwork. Enjoy the gardening as I suspect the housework will wait for a rainy day. I'm glad the Nova Scotia fires are just about under control. Terry, @smitty34877 that is great news that you asked for more help on the weekends, and that everyone stepped up to help. I have enjoyed the pictures from Seville. Thank you, @0106 Tina and @1ANGELCAT for your pictures. Lenda

Annie, Debbie @dfish posted the picture of the lake from the house last night on yesterday's Dsily. Lenda

I wonder why? 🤣 Lenda