Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome!

[mw8811]

Not blisteringly hot up here Jeff 64F or whatever that is in C I have no idea. Just a nice spring day but now clouding over so no doubt will plummet soon. Love the clock!

 

Also FYI had a little meander round the normal monthly market in the square today bought some sausages and pork pie (original recipe from the butchers in the town where I grew up as a child). It was an amazing shop with sawdust on the floor and the freshly baked pies still warm and (if you weren't careful) oozing the liquid that would form the jelly when cooled. I can still smell that shop now. The lines used to be out the door on a Friday and Saturday morning - mmmm

 

There was also a stall selling Shropshire and Cheshire cheeses and a bread stall, oh and a cake stall but that doesn't interest me. I should probably take my ipad and take pix for you but it's rather cumbersome to haul down there and back (I walk just about everywhere). I don't have a camera any more having murdered approx 6 in the past 10 years.

 

Oh well better get out in the garden before I need to put a sweatshirt on again!

 

Mary

[specialcruisegirl]

Not blisteringly hot up here Jeff 64F or whatever that is in C I have no idea. Just a nice spring day but now clouding over so no doubt will plummet soon. Love the clock!

 

Also FYI had a little meander round the normal monthly market in the square today bought some sausages and pork pie (original recipe from the butchers in the town where I grew up as a child). It was an amazing shop with sawdust on the floor and the freshly baked pies still warm and (if you weren't careful) oozing the liquid that would form the jelly when cooled. I can still smell that shop now. The lines used to be out the door on a Friday and Saturday morning - mmmm

 

There was also a stall selling Shropshire and Cheshire cheeses and a bread stall, oh and a cake stall but that doesn't interest me. I should probably take my ipad and take pix for you but it's rather cumbersome to haul down there and back (I walk just about everywhere). I don't have a camera any more having murdered approx 6 in the past 10 years.

 

Oh well better get out in the garden before I need to put a sweatshirt on again!

 

Mary

 

Mary, l can also remember the smell of those pies...along with the old sawdust!

It's not blisteringly hot here either (must be a suvvern thing!) but still very pleasing as l sit in the garden with a nice glass of red!

 

I called into a Cheshire craft fair yesterday and picked up few nice bits for my cruise closet...:rolleyes:

 

Was hoping to get over to the Shrewsbury Show next week but time is tight now so will have to rely on your report!

Bermuda calls yet again next April....

 

S:)

[specialcruisegirl]

Good Morning all from a blisteringly hot Blighty!

 

Today a clock has appeared on the wall of our new Taverna ... or is it restaurant ... or is it wine bar ..... or is it all .......and surprisingly for me and my diy skills ... no blood was spilled!

 

 

Jeff

 

 

 

Like the clock Jeffers.....have just bought one for my garden in the sale...I'll give it a year!!

S:)

[mysty]

Not blisteringly hot up here Jeff 64F or whatever that is in C I have no idea. Just a nice spring day but now clouding over so no doubt will plummet soon. Love the clock!

 

Also FYI had a little meander round the normal monthly market in the square today bought some sausages and pork pie (original recipe from the butchers in the town where I grew up as a child). It was an amazing shop with sawdust on the floor and the freshly baked pies still warm and (if you weren't careful) oozing the liquid that would form the jelly when cooled. I can still smell that shop now. The lines used to be out the door on a Friday and Saturday morning - mmmm

 

There was also a stall selling Shropshire and Cheshire cheeses and a bread stall, oh and a cake stall but that doesn't interest me. I should probably take my ipad and take pix for you but it's rather cumbersome to haul down there and back (I walk just about everywhere). I don't have a camera any more having murdered approx 6 in the past 10 years.

 

Oh well better get out in the garden before I need to put a sweatshirt on again!

 

Mary

Mary, your market purchases are making my mouth water! Enjoy them! ;)

[mysty]

Mary, l can also remember the smell of those pies...along with the old sawdust!

It's not blisteringly hot here either (must be a suvvern thing!) but still very pleasing as l sit in the garden with a nice glass of red!

 

I called into a Cheshire craft fair yesterday and picked up few nice bits for my cruise closet...:rolleyes:

 

Was hoping to get over to the Shrewsbury Show next week but time is tight now so will have to rely on your report!

Bermuda calls yet again next April....

 

S:)

Sophia, Myster and I are huge fans of Bermuda! We have been a few times and each time we are reluctant to leave! Enjoy your nice glass of red! :)

[mw8811]

S will try and do a report of the flower show DH has never been so it will be an education for him especially as he has zero interest in plants LOL From what I can see Margaret Thrower is going to be an informative presence there. She and her two sisters feature on the cover of the Shrop Mag this month also an article inside about them and Percy (of course!).

 

Seems it will be a nice evening we still have a bit of sunshine here for the neighbourhood summer party where no doubt lots of collapso will flow ;)

 

Mysty and S we were planning to go back to Bda next year for a visit but the Whisper cruise to Norway was calling us. I have mixed feelings about returning as I still miss it so much - 32 years was a long time and a huge chunk out of our lives.....

 

Uh oh 4 legs asking for her supper so better oblige!

 

Mary

[specialcruisegirl]

Mary, it's years since I've been to that flower show but it was always great fun.

The Throwers could be interesting.

 

My visit back to Bermuda this year after a 44 year gap was also interesting...it hadn't changed all that much...just a lot busier and missing some of my old haunts! ;)

I intend to explore a bit more next April! I had mixed feelings about returning and must admit to getting a tad emotional as we approached the island but l did enjoy seeing it again.

 

Hope you enjoy your party.....

 

S:)

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Evening Coolers .... a nice glass of iced water in my new erection this evening ....

 

Isn't it amazing that she always manages to find another Nicoise table cloth .... I think she has a secret stash.

 

Jeff

 

ps .... JP, it was water with the kippers, followed by a mug of tea, and I certainly do have some French and other stories ... one or two about John M and I in Reading and other places before he became extraordinarily wealthy ... which I'll swap with you .... M, no .... surprisingly it was my clock ... I do all stuff design and taste related ... and the clock was £10 from Amazon. Soapy Gal .... Bermuda is not far away ... I perfectly understand that fear of wanting to go v "never go back" for fear of replacing lovely memories with lesser ones! Mary, ..... I envy you that food .... and I so miss family butchers. We have one not far but the area has become so gentrified it isn't really a community butcher any more just full of rich people. I do begrudge you that cheese and food though.

 

[mysty]

Beautiful picture Jeff! What an enchanted space! And good work with the clock! It is perfection! You do have an eye for design dear sir! :)

[UKCruiseJeff]

Breakfast in La Bistro ......:)

 

Jeff

 

[specialcruisegirl]

Nice looking Brekkie Jeffers.....just waiting for my new freezer to arrive so having a glass of red..yet again...in the garden...my Sunday treat;)

 

Very lucky here to have old established butchers and a fabulous farm shop within five miles. Once the freezer is in I'll be stocking up!

 

Have been busy cleaning the car up in readiness for the kiddywinks airport drop on Tuesday....they're off to Rhodes...with my matching luggage l may add :rolleyes:

 

S:)

[UKCruiseJeff]

SoporificGal, you bleedin' turning into an ol' lush in't you?:eek: Startin' this early....PHEW!

 

:)

[mysty]

But Sophia, you get bonus points for lending your luggage and providing chauffeuress service! Enjoy your red! :)

[specialcruisegirl]

Jeffers!!! Moi an old lush...hehe....spot on me thinks...but only on a Sunday!;)

 

Mysty is quite correct....I've earned me bonus points!!

 

Plus.....it's cocktail time somewhere in the world! :D

 

S:)

Edited August 9, 2015 by specialcruisegirl

[mysty]

This was taken at Canyon Lake, Arizona. It is about 45 miles east of Phoenix. Canyon Lake lies approximately 15 miles up the Apache Trail from Apache Junction, Arizona. This is a beautiful spot!

 

 

[UKCruiseJeff]

Isn't it a genuinely wonderful thing ... and a truly generous gift of nature to be alive today .. and at peace ... compared to all of the alternatives?

 

:)

[mysty]

Waxing philosophical today Jeff! And yes, it is a genuinely wonderful thing! :)

[jpalbny]

It would be even better if I were not stuck at work today. But it will help pay for the Audi. So I'll suffer through it...

[mysty]

It would be even better if I were not stuck at work today. But it will help pay for the Audi. So I'll suffer through it...

I hope your suffering is over for today JP! I'm sipping an Aperol Spritz and watching the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Golf tournament. Jim Furyk and Shane Lowry are currently tied for the lead at 9 under. Life is good! :)

[UKCruiseJeff]

It would be even better if I were not stuck at work today. But it will help pay for the Audi. So I'll suffer through it...

 

 

So, in the end ..... a talented bloke with a Frenchy name ended up working for a German (car) ...... I understand the pain JP believe me. :D Let me tell you how hard I worked to get my first SL.

 

I have never been a bloke interested in cars .... except for one perhaps, and that was the Volvo 940 SE T5R I bought for my wife. Apart from that - cars disinterest me and I begrudge all the cash they cost to buy and run and how much they lose the moment you drive them out of a showroom. The Volvo was the most impressive car I had driven and it keeps her safe. That is until a summer many years ago I was in Grinzing just outside of Vienna for a lovely lunch with wifey in our favourite heurige when I saw my first Merc SL sitting there glistening in the sun .. ... and it was shouting at her "Own me ... you know you want me ...." etc.

 

So I got back and called my local Merc dealer and asked for a brochure which he thought hugely funny. I was told I couldn't have one. That is either the brochure or a car. Anywaye this presented me with a challenge and I like a challenge, so I started calling dealers and all of them laughed at me. A 2 year waiting list stretching to three or four and a premium of up to £50,000 over list. I called a mate in Monaco with connections and he told me the Monaco dealer would get one for him and he would transfer it to me. By coincidence we were down there in a few weeks and off I went with my hot and sticky cheque book. Well, whatever miscomunication there was, I didn't get the car.

 

A few weeks later, wifey and I were at Waterloo just getting on Eurostar to Paris when my phone went. Would I like a fully laden Obsidian Black SL with beige interior ... looks like the on in the piccy ... for a small morsel (alright big one) over list ... if so it was waiting for me. A chap had paid the deposit and went bankrupt whilst waiting and it was just delivered from the factory ... and it was sitting all brand new and untouched at the dealer ....and it could be mine for a sum over the odds. And so it was and still is. It is our Devon car and I have only done around 20k miles. It is a source of joy ... but if you were to tally up the purchase, depreciation, running cost etc and divide it by 20,000 miles then the cost per mile is substantially more than if I had chartered a private jet.

 

Anyway .... this week Jeremey Clarkson who is shortly to appear on Amazon Prime has been writing about his 5 Star cars ... and his top one is my one, and he is writing about the hoops he went through to get his. He is the top car journalist in the UK.

 

But to me, it is a classic car. Under-priced for what it is. Aklthough it is very fast, it is a very large GT rather than a racer and I bought it because it made Wifey smile in Grinzing.

 

I thought you might be amused.

 

Enjoy ... at least it wasn't just me ... ... it is you as well ... and I once got 21mpg out of mine ..

 

 

Jeff

 

ps ... sorry for all the typos ... it is ipaditis and small fingers ....

 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2015 by UKCruiseJeff

[UKCruiseJeff]

This evening has been croque .... and melon in La Bistro. :)

 

Jeff

 

 

[mysty]

That was an entertaining article Jeff! I spent a lot of the time giggling! Boys and their toys. :)

[TLCOhio]

That was an entertaining article Jeff! I spent a lot of the time giggling! Boys and their toys. :)

 

Yes!! Lots of good stories, pictures, comments, etc., on cars, travel, food, etc. Just got our two grandsons and son on the flight from Columbus to Washington, DC. Their flight was delayed some, giving us added time with them at the airport. Their flight has arrived and they are now on their way down to Charlottesville, Va. Will have a number of interesting pictures to share from the four days of fun, excitement, activities, etc., with those energized grandsons.

 

Also, things are nearly at the "magic" 5,000 posts level for this "Cooler". Will hit that point soon, plus being over 200,000 views. Much "catching up" to do. Lots of interesting things happening in the world. Planning continuing to move ahead in getting ready for our late January-February Africa adventure.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 115,321 views for this posting.

[TLCOhio]

For those with grandchildren, you know their "energy" can offer challenges for the grandparents in keeping up, etc. It "ALL" is a part for what makes life interesting!! You want to keep them "busy", but not too much to stretch them out in a way that creates other problems. Below are a few quick samples of the weekend fun. They both slept on the flight back to Virginia.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 202,729 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

Since both of our grandson love construction equipment as their "toys of choice", I arranged Friday morning for a visit to a major construction firm to see lots of equipment there . . . "up close and personal". This included getting to ride and steer some of the big "Cats", including a steel-tracked bulldozer. I got a great video from their little trip around the construction yard. Do the smiles indicate that it was a fun time for all involved?:

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday morning while enroute to the airport, we stopped at my downtown office overlooking Capitol Square. From the 12th floor, they could see cannons on the Statehouse lawn, plus many tall buildings and having a little fun in my office that features many travel and grandson pictures.:

 

 

 

 

 

At the airport, we had some extra time due to their out-bound flight being delayed for a couple of hours. This allowed a little escalator riding, including this one picture showing Roy Lichtenstein's "Brushstrokes in Flight". This famed 1984 sculpture is in the lobby with our one grandson riding up the escalator. Lichtenstein grew up in the east coast, but started his college career at Ohio State University.:

 

[jpalbny]

Jeff, thanks for the story! Given that engine's rating there is no way it's that slow at 0-62 (or 0-100KPH), though. It must be sub-4 seconds. Chris' S7 is way heavier than that Mercedes, and the engine is similar, and I think hers can do sub-4. My S6 will be a few pounds lighter... :D

 

Made it home from work just after 4 and Chris & I are going out to dinner to meet a friend from South Carolina. We used to work together in Albany.

 

Only a few posts to go!

 

Edited to add: Oops, sorry Terry! was trying to post #4999 but you beat me to it. Guess I get #5000!

Edited August 9, 2015 by jpalbny