irishjim

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

I tried to make it a nice day for Pauline for her dad's memory.

+1

2 hours ago, Heartgrove said:

Thank you Rich for the Daily Report, thank you Roy for the Cares and Celebration Report, and thank you Tina for today's recipes. And thank you all for being here!

 

Here are a couple of photos from the wedding. First is my sister and BIL with my niece. Second is the happy couple.

 

 

 

- Jack

Lovely  photos.

10 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Good morning all!

We're into our 2nd day of a string of mid-high 80's F.  Will this be our summer?  We never know 😉  Although I expect we'll get more in August.  Nevertheless, we're enjoying the sunshine.

 

I love the sound of bagpipes, but won't be walking on stilts and have no more houseplants.  All my energy is put into the outdoor gardens.

 

Will pass on the drink and meal, but the wine sounds good.  We were in St. Petersburg for 2 days in 2014 on the Eurodam.  We toured for 25 hours over 2 days with SPB Tours, an excellent company. It was exhausting because they were having a heatwave.  Every day was at least 90F and humid.  Like others have said, there will be no more visits to Russia in our future. I'm glad we saw it, but not going back.

 

@superomaHappy Birthday!  And thank you for sharing the photo of your beautiful vegetable garden, it looks great!

 

Jacqui @kazuI'm excited for you that Shadow will arrive today!

Jack @HeartgroveI'm happy that your visit with your brother went well and the wedding party sounded like so much fun.

Linda @lindalerYikes about your fall!  I can see myself doing the same thing.  I hope your injuries heal quickly.

 

Here are some photos of our 2 days in St. Petersburg.  Among other things, we saw the Hermitage, Catherine's Palace, Church of Spilt Blood, and Peterhof Palace.

 

Church of Spilt Blood

 

 

 

 

The Hermitage

 

 

Van Gogh

 

Rembrandt

 

Monet

 

Michaelangelo

 

DaVinci

 

Catherine Palace

 

 

 

 

 

Peterhof Palce

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow. Fantastic photos and  brought back wonderful memories.

                                                                                                              Jim.

2 hours ago, cat shepard said:

@superoma

 

Happy Birthday! May your new year be filled with love, laughter, and great health!

 

+1

3 hours ago, aliaschief said:

It has been a beautiful morning here in Edinburgh. I have definitely been listening to bagpipes and tried a dram or two of Laphroig.

This morning we rode around on the Hop On bus and then visited beautiful Giles Cathedral and it’s beautiful stained glass windows and architecture.

 

Of all times the battery on my phone is failing so with all modes shut down it has become just a camera! Here are some pictures from the bus and a couple of insides shots of Saint Giles.

 

Have a great day. Off to more exploring.

 

 

Love  the  photos, really  nice.

1 hour ago, rafinmd said:

Wishing for a good result for the ultrasound.

 

Roy

+1

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

Happy birthday Morgan.

Best wishes to your daughter today Sandi.

+1

1 hour ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Good morning from central Texas, and weather wise, it's the same.

 

I salute all Culinarians, especially the hard working line cooks, who do most of the work in restaurant kitchens.  We like chili dogs, but won't be having them today.  I have a ribeye thawing in the refrigerator which we ill cook on the electric grill inside.  Threading the needle day has several meanings from the literal one to sports metaphors to a yoga pose and others.

 

The Lemony Snicket quote is interesting, and fate can throw some curve balls.

 

We'll pass on the meal, drink and wine.

 

@aliaschief  I hope you are feeling better.

@cat shepard  Ann, the girls picked a good meme for their last one.

@StLouisCruisers  Sandi, great picture of Ren with his coach and all his trophies and medals.  He certainly had a great tournament.

@marshhawk  The advice you've been given is all good advice.  In the past few years, gala now dressy nights in the MDR are not nearly as dressy as in the past., and Alaska cruises are also totally different since, people do not dress up as much in the MDR.  I have reached the point where I take two long, lightweight skirts with nice knit, sweater like tops that I pair with slightly dressier sandals.  DH takes two long sleeved dress shirts to wear with his black slacks and dress shoes.  He may add a navy cardigan if the ship is chilly, but no coat or a tie.  For day time, layers work well in Alaska, along with a hooded jacket or coat that should be waterproof.  For glacier viewing we add gloves.  I also take one pair of shorts and a pair of sandals for the odd warm day in Alaska and for wearing in Victoria at times.  We even had a day in Ketchikan where it was sunny and and 82F, but that is rare there.

@ger_77  Glad you got rain.

@kazu  Jacqui, thanks for the pictures of your flowers.

 

We have been to La Paz once in March 2018, on Ruby Princess.  It is a nice town to walk around.  We also hired a boat on the dock to take us out of see the whale sharks.

 

A few pictures from our walk around La Paz.  When we got off the shuttle from Puerto de Pichilingue, we saw this whale skeleton display.

 

We walked down this street to the Teatro de Juarez.

 

 

The Cathedral de Nuestra Senora de La Paz

 

 

Jardin Velasco across the street from the Cathedral

 

We also saw this museum and spent some time inside.

 

We then headed back to the Malecon La Paz, where we found a boat to take us out to see the whale sharks.  We followed one shark as we was swimming, and he was as long or longer than the boat.  Our boat was like the ones pictured, but we were the only passengers.

 

People were swimming with the shark, but as you can see, the swimmer was having to work to keep up.

 

My point and shoot camera is waterproof and DH took some pictures by leaning over the side and holding the camera underwater.  It helped that the shark was near the surface.  This is the best of the underwater pictures.  At one point we probably could have touched the shark, but we were told not to do so.

 

 

The pier and the beach along with some of the sculptures on the Malecon.

 

 

 

 

 

One of the many restaurants across the street from the Malecon.

 

Naturally, there was a shopping opportunity when we returned to the port.  This is just a small portion of the booths.

 

The port area from our balcony as we sailed.

 

Lenda

 

Thank you  for  posting these beautiful photos. 

Lenda  you could get a  job on the ships.

                                                                        Jim.

3 hours ago, Rowsby said:

 

After a lot of deliberation...I think I am going to cancel my trip to Waikiki....this would have been my 16th trip.....

 

Even though I am double-vaxxed and double-boosted....the new covid variance is just too contagious....and spending a month trying to dodge covid....just isn't sounding too appealing right now...

 

Hopefully the upcoming booster this fall will be effective...and I can re-book....!!!

 

Just wanted to warn everyone....I'm sure I'll have great big crocodile tears on the day I was suppose to fly out......:)

 

 

Better  safe.  than  sorry.

49 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Good morning from a somewhat cloudy central Texas.  Since it was already 85F at 8:45 am, it will probably be humid today.  Not much on the agenda except DH's PT session, and trying to stay cool.  The weather map last night showed that our area is beyond extreme drought conditions.  We are listed as exceptional drought conditions, the highest (worst) designation.  😒

 

Hammock day and summer leisure day seem to go together.  We had a Pawley's Island hammock for many years.  We left it when we moved from The Woodlands.  Spoonerisms are interesting.  Thank your @grapau27 Graham for the explanation since I couldn't quite remember what they were.

 

Today's quote seems to promote dishonesty in being creative.

 

We'll pass on the meal drink and wine.

 

We have been to Nawiliwili many times beginning in 1996.  IIRC, we have only missed the port once because of high winds.  In 2018 on the Westerdam, Captain Vincent Smit cancelled the port when the weather predicted very high winds.  Instead, we had a third day in Honolulu.

 

@MISTER  I like the new and very appropriate avatar.

@kazu  Jacqui, thanks for more pictures of your wonderful plants.  If you don't get finished by the time of Shadow's early arrival, everything will still be there later when you have time to get back to sorting.  By then, Shadow may be able to "help" you.

@cat shepard  The meme is another winner.

@smitty34877  How nice of your neighbors to let you use their pool.  Too bad there is not a way to get Tana over to the pool.

@StLouisCruisers  Sandi, sending positive thoughts the Tigers win the semi-final game.  I saw the cat face in the clouds too.

@marshhawk  Loved the cat cloud picture.

@jimgev  The comedian you were thinking about is Norm Crosby.  No, my memory is not that good, but I did remember such a comedian.  Google came to my rescue with the name.

@mamaofami  Carol, I'm sorry your son is sick on his big birthday.  Please wish him HAPPY BIRTHDAY for us with the hope he is negative soon.

 

These are some of the pictures I posted on August 11, 2021.

 

I do have some pictures from our various visits to Kauai, and I don't think I have any repeats.   BTW, the Hollywood tour is a great tour if your like movies and tv shows.

 

All of these pictures relate to the Hollywood tour and our Na Pali coast tour in 2007.

 

The Coco Palms was featured in Blue Hawaii, but unfortunately, it was very badly damaged by about 30 years ago by Hurricane Iniki.  On July 27, it was sold in a foreclosure sale, and it's fate is unkown. 

 

One interesting fact about the movie is the movie company expected the owner to tell her guests to leave while they filmed the movie.  They were thinking the could stay there and not have to make reservations.  The owner had other ideas, and refused to ask her guests to leave.  Elvis had stayed at the Coco Palms before, and knowing the owner, had wisely reserved a bungalow for himself.  Since they could not film in the bungalows, they had to use the one Elivs had rented and redorate it for the shots set in other bungalows.

 

Coco Palms in 2007

 

The barge from the wedding scene without the outriggers

 

Coco Palms in 2018 when we made it to Nawiliwili on Coral Princess that fall.

 

The other iconic movie site was the pier on Honalei that was used in South Pacific.  In 2007, it still had the roof from the movie before it was destroyed by a storm a few years latrer.

 

Without the roof in 2013

 

With the new roof in 2014

 

Some views of the Na Pali coast and caves that can only be accessed by boat

 

 

Some of these views were featured in Jurassic Park.

 

I hope this posts since CC has been cutting in and out this morning.

 

Lenda

 

Thank you for these Fantastic  photos.

                                                                    Jim.

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Kauai movie tour.

Blue Hawaii

South Pacific

Donovan's Reef.

Graham 

 

 

Nice photos Graham, Thanks.

                                                     Jim.

2 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

I'm looking at the beautiful rays of light in that sunset photo again, and maybe I'm crazy but does anyone see at the top of that center ray, a cat face?  Look again!

 

 

I don't drink coffee but maybe I need a cup!  We were awakened extra early this morning by our security system beeping rapidly at 4:51 am.  Like two beeps per second fast beeping!  It turns out the battery downstairs needs replacing.  That happens about every 5 years.  The system went off three times, about every ten minutes and then finally stopped.  We had to jump out of bed each time and turn it off.  I guess they figure three times is enough to get you to do something about it, so hopefully DH has an appropriate battery to replace it.  Why these things don't happen during broad daylight is beyond me!

I  see it,

2 hours ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

An early good morning from sunny central Texas.  I need to make a quick trip to the grocery store and want to get there and back before it gets too hot.

 

We'll celebrate the day of the dog in memory of our two dachshunds.  We celebrated junk food day yesterday with hot dogs and chili cheese Fritos last night.  Now the Fritos are the only junk food in the house.  I try to be someone every day.

 

An interesting quote today.

 

We'll pass on the meal (I don't like meatballs) and the drink.  The wine sounds nice, but very pricey.

 

We were in Avalon on Catalina Island in March on Koningsdam.

 

@Sharon in AZ  🎂 HAPPY 70TH BIRTHDAY, CRAIG! 🥂

@bennybear  Brenda, sending good wishes that your DH's surgery today goes well, and that they get all of the melanoma easily.

@aliaschief  Safe and sane travels today.

@smitty34877  Terry, cute picture of Fred.

@marshhawk  Glad you are feeling better today.

@cat shepard  Great meme the girls picked out.

@grapau27  Pauline looks lovely as usual.

@Heartgrove  Safe travels tomorrow.  Enjoy the wedding.

@StLouisCruisers  Good luck wishes to the Tigers tonight.

 

We were in Avalon on March 25 and again on March 28.  It was a sunny, pleasant day on the first stop and windy, rainy with rough seas on March 28.  We only went in on the first visit, and we rented a golf cart for a quick tour of the island.

 

The walk from the tender dock and their Veterans memorial.

 

 

Starting our golf cart ride.

 

Looking down at Avalon from the hilltop viewpoint.

 

We passed the pet cemetery

 

The Casino, which we did not have time to visit since we only had the golf cart for an hour.

 

 

DH dropped me off at one end of the pedestrian street while he took the golf cart to the other end.

 

 

 

 

The Wrigley house on the hill top.  We drove by it on our golf cart ride, but this is a better picture.

 

Lenda

 

Love the  photos.

                               Jim.

4 hours ago, marshhawk said:

Happy Wednesday Dailyites.  I am suffering ftom my second booster shot, have been sick since last night, slept all day.  going back to bed now.  hope you are all well, and i love the quote.  My favorite book for living those lives is And Ladies of the Club.  virtual hugs!

Hope  you  start to  feel  better  soon.

                                                                 Jim.

+1

10 minutes ago, smitty34877 said:

Have a wonderful time in Scotland and Norway!

+1

3 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Thank you Sandi.

Our Sarah does not like her mam and dad too after 7 years of no contact by them.

Ruth was extremely kind to them as she was for us especially after we both were married making dinners every night,doing our washing and ironing giving money etc for all 4 of us.

There are givers and Takers in this world.

This thread is full of givers and lovely people and why I love being here even though I sometimes post too much.

Graham.

You  post  as  much as  you want Graham. I love  to read  them  every  day.

           Jim,

On 7/16/2022 at 5:08 PM, Brentt_M said:

Well we are all checked in and awaiting sailaway.  Absolutely love the Pinnacle Suite, but worried I am going back to a normal neptune and especially a standard verandah.

 

 

Beautiful  pictures.

1 hour ago, kplady said:

Good morning everyone!

 

I would love raspberry cake, never played Words with Friends or Wordle (but do crosswords on my phone), and love all the new friends I have here on the Daily.

 

We were in Saguenay in September 2010 on the Eurodam.  It was lovely to see the welcome we received at the pier:

 

We visited the old Pulp Mill - very interesting to visit:

 

After that, we went to Ha-Ha Park, lots of interesting sculptures:

 

We really enjoyed the day there!

 

Hope everyone will have a good day.  Prayers and cheers for all our Daily friends.  Stay safe!

Laura

Thank  you for  posting  the  photos and  you  both  look great.

                                                                                                             Jim.

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Sorry to hear that Carol.

Prayers 🙏 he is a lot better for his birthday.

Graham.

+1

4 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Good afternoon.

After record breaking temperatures last night it is currently 86°F in our garden.

All of our plants and hydrangeas have had a good watering.

Thank you for today's daily and fleet reports Rich.

3 nice days today.

Excellent quote and what Pauline and I always abide to.

Nice meal and drink.

We have never been to today's port and all photos will be welcomed.

Prayers 🙏 for our care list people.

I hope everyone has a nice day.

Graham.

 

 

Love  the photos  of  your  flowers Graham.

                                                                           Jim.

31 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

These are pictures taken in 2010 and 2012 on Kodiak.

 

The Orthodox Church on a sunny day, and some of the broken bells from the church.

 

 

 

 

 

In 2012, as usual, we rented a car.  This time we were in port long enough to drive out of town to the Pacific Spaceport Complex.  On the way back to town, we drove to Chiniak where we found an inn and café at the end of the road.

 

I found this explanation of the spaceport on line, and this is how it looked when I copied it.  The Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska (PSCA) on Kodiak Island provides responsive, flexible, and low-cost access to space for small- and light-lift vertical rockets and stratospheric balloons.  PSCA has been launching rockets since 1998 and was the first FAA-licensed spaceport not co-located on a federal range.

 

The coast near the spaceport

 

Part of the spaceport in the distance

 

Some of the animals near the spaceport who did not seem to mind the weather

 

What awaited us at the end of the road to Chiniak

 

 

 

Lenda

 

Thank  you  picks.

47 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Good morning from hot central Texas.  Enough said about that.

 

We have been to Kodiak 14 times, and all but two of those were on BHBS.  Our first time was in 1992, pre-digital, when we put out motorhome on the Tustemena, one of the fleet of the Alaska Marine Highway, for an overnight trip to Kodiak.  The motorhome fare cost way more than the fares for both of us and our DDs, and a room for four with a bath.  Since our first dachshund, Brandy, was with us, we had to take the motorhome for her to stay in.  Also, on the return trip, we left the Trusty Tusty in Seward.  We were only in Kodiak one night due to the ferry schedule, but we packed a lot of sightseeing into that day.

 

We did the 14-day out of Seattle 12 times by doing b2b2bs in 2010 and 2012 on Amsterdam, 2015 on Statendam and 2018 on Zaandam.  Also 9n 2018, we stopped in Kodiak on Coral Princess on the Circle the Northern Pacific cruise.  We have had great weather on several of the stops, cloudy, misty weather on other stops, and pouring rain on a few stops.  When it was pouring rain, we just stayed on the ship and watch the people trying to stay dry waiting for their tours.

 

On December 5, 2012, while we were on Koningsdam, this is what I posted about Kodiak.

 

I found a few different pictures of Kodiak on DH's tablet.  They are from our various trips except the one in 1992 in the pre-digital age.

 

@rafinmd, Roy, this first picture is for you.  I didn't find a good picture of the Tustemena in Kodiak, but this was her sailing out of Homer, bound for Kodiak.  I guess that counts.  For those who have never sailed on her or seen her, the tall structure near the stern is how vehicles are loaded on the ferry.  You drive onto the platform between the uprights, and are then lowered to the parking deck.  Once on that deck, a turntable rotates the vehicle so it can be driven to its parking spot.

 

A Kodiak bear looking for salmon in a stream.

 

Eagles near town looking for fish 

 

A WWII bunker and remnants of guns in Fort Abercrombie State Park.  This bunker is a museum that is worth a visit.

 

Another bunker 

 

The plaque marking the high water level reached by the tidal wave after the March 27, 1964, earthquake.  The plaque is near the fire station near McDonalds, quite a way above sea level.

 

Finally, the small boat harbor downtown 

 

Lenda

 

 Really  love the  photos.

                                           Jim.

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

Thank you for your lovely photos Kay.

Graham.

+1

2 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

Good morning, everyone!  It is mid afternoon here in Norway!  Pat has gone to the gym to try to work off the last two days’ meals, I should have gone, too, but perhaps next time…

 

I love guacamole, but like to make it myself, then it can be properly lumpy, only  avocado, with a little salt and fresh lime juice, and just before serving, some tomato, carefully cubed, for colour.  There’s never any left over for storing, but if I get a lot of avocados I can prepare it without the tomato, and it freezes beautifully in plastic bags.  Half an avocado is the equivalent of a whole banana for potassium, so good for leg cramps. 
 

We’ve been to kodiak, but I’m having a hard time getting my photos from the cloud.

 

At lunch time, we were walking through the Lido, and someone said ”Madame Ann”?  I couldn’t remember her, but she said she remembered us from the Zaandam in South America in 2017.  Tony, @sailingdutchy, do you remember Dian?  My heavens, what great memories they have.  We got hugs today from our old friend Apinya too.  They both work in Tamarind.  

 

From “dressy” night, last night.
 

A very  lovely  photo of  you  both.

                                                            Jim.