Azamara Cruisers - How are things where YOU are

[uktog]

Wistfully my DH stared at three ladies.  He then had fun helping everyone at the locks on Scotlands other Panama Canal - the Crinan canal as the invisible man was no use 🙂. But double vaccination timing has been kind to us so he’s getting a holiday and its even a cruise……but a very different one.  I will come back with pictures from the Majestic Line and tell you what its like exploring Scottish islands with no itinerary just a fixed start and end date and location.  Not really one for comparisons between this and Azamara so unless you want I wont do a separate thread but will catch up with pictures here and it will be interesting to see how it goes.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

Very exciting that you are actually cruising!  Fair winds, following seas, and no viruses!!!  If you like, you could start a thread in the 'Other Cruise Lines' forum – Cruise Critic doesn't seem to have any posts about Majestic Line so this would be a great addition.

[excitedofharpenden]

15 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Pictures from my out of control herb garden, pollinator garden and our 3 raised bed vegetable garden! Oh, and a hanging flower basket and late blooming rhododendron.

 

 

 

 

 

All looks great!  I'd love to be able to grow rhododendrons or azaleas, but unfortunately they'd have to go in pots as I don't have the right soil.

 

One thing for sure. I have REALLY appreciated my garden this past year or so, don't take it for granted thinking of those living without one and it has never looked so tidy!

 

Phil 

[Mackdogmolly]

3 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

All looks great!  I'd love to be able to grow rhododendrons or azaleas, but unfortunately they'd have to go in pots as I don't have the right soil.

 

One thing for sure. I have REALLY appreciated my garden this past year or so, don't take it for granted thinking of those living without one and it has never looked so tidy!

 

Phil 

It’s beautiful, Phil!!

[Grandma Cruising]

Lovely garden, Phil. Is that a red maple on the right? 

[uktog]

This was last nights anchorage near Ardnamurchan the most westerly land point in the UK. The spontaneous itinerary is great we’ve decided we might even try to get out to the most western point in Europe St Kilda next week. 
 

[excitedofharpenden]

3 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Lovely garden, Phil. Is that a red maple on the right? 

No Denise, it's a cotinus coggygria or smoke tree. It develops large feathery plumes in summer that look like smoke, hence the name.  It's particularly showy in autumn when it turns red. It's probably 40+ years old. They are beautiful bushes/trees that are easy to grow in most soil. They get pretty big. 

 

Phil 

 

[Tom47]

Two pictures: Our front garden on April  21, 2 months ago.  Alaska rr trip, Anchorage to Fairbanks

 

Edited June 27, 2021 by Tom47

[elmac40]

On 6/12/2021 at 8:05 AM, excitedofharpenden said:

I'm noticing a lot of Facebook posts from friends who are crew showung them travelling to Glasgow, so things are getting moving. Meanwhile. here I think the hopes of removing all Covid-19 restrictions on 21st June are fading and it could be another month at least, what wth the variants causing concern of a third wave. It just goes on and on😔

 

Phil 

Hi. The 3 Azamara ships are all still at the King George V docks in Glasgow. Saw them yesterday. 

[Grandma Cruising]

20 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

No Denise, it's a cotinus coggygria or smoke tree. It develops large feathery plumes in summer that look like smoke, hence the name.  It's particularly showy in autumn when it turns red. It's probably 40+ years old. They are beautiful bushes/trees that are easy to grow in most soil. They get pretty big. 

 

Phil 

 

Ah, thats what it is. We have one too, but ours is nowhere as big as yours. That’s a beauty. Those look lovely euonymus too - silver and gold!

A couple of years ago my husband started a smallish bed with several gold euonymus with a cotinus in the middle for the colour contrast.

 

[nordski]

Having noted the enviable gardening successes  of the members of this forum, I will wisely refrain from posting any examples of my skills.

 

Some Covid information gleaned from a webinar at the end of last week:

 

1/ As expected, considerable research is ongoing concerning the fatigue which  is a common symptom of Long Covid.

 

2/ It appears that by late summer or early autumn there will be a very useful antibody test that will identify levels of protection from the disease, This test will provide much needed clarity as to the potential necessity of “booster” shots, an issue which may become important for cruise lines and their customers in the near future.

Edited June 28, 2021 by nordski

[TeaBag]

We are experiencing a heat wave here in BC that is breaking all sorts of previous records.  Yesterday Lytton BC was a record 46.6C (116F).  The raspberry crop is a disaster as the fruit is cooking on the vines and the growers can't get anybody to help pick either.  So thankful for A/C here at home but many do not have it.

[nordski]

27 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

We are experiencing a heat wave here in BC that is breaking all sorts of previous records.  Yesterday Lytton BC was a record 46.6C (116F).  The raspberry crop is a disaster as the fruit is cooking on the vines and the growers can't get anybody to help pick either.  So thankful for A/C here at home but many do not have it.

Can’t imagine that level of heat.

 

As a youngster I picked raspberries as a fruit crop, and I would complain about the task then, but to work in that heat would be unbearable.

 

Hope that weather relief is on the way,

[Mackdogmolly]

45 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

We are experiencing a heat wave here in BC that is breaking all sorts of previous records.  Yesterday Lytton BC was a record 46.6C (116F).  The raspberry crop is a disaster as the fruit is cooking on the vines and the growers can't get anybody to help pick either.  So thankful for A/C here at home but many do not have it.

It’s terrible. My friends in the US Pacific Northwest are suffering through the same weather.

[Tom47]

Our high yesterday was 90F.  Today 85F.  Since we are near 2 Great Lakes, we have high humidity and moderate temps in the summer.  Sometimes the humidity and temp are the same.  We have ac.  The downside of being near 2 Great Lakes is lake effect snow in the winter.   In the blizzard of 1977 we received 100 inches of snow over 3 days, 200 inches over the winter.

See below June 2010 pic of our then 3 year grandson giving ceramic birds a bath in our birdbath in our back garden

[uktog]

Most of the Western Isles are on the Gulf Stream, so even in very remote places there are beautiful flowers growing, like this rose bush on the Isle of Canna

 

We moved on to the haunting bleakness and isolation of St Kilda where we have been overnight and will explore the sea stacks later today 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2021 by uktog

[Grandma Cruising]

54 minutes ago, uktog said:

Most of the Western Isles are on the Gulf Stream, so even in very remote places there are beautiful flowers growing, like this rose bush on the Isle of Canna

 

We moved on to the haunting bleakness and isolation of St Kilda where we have been overnight and will explore the sea stacks later today 

 

 

Looks beautiful, and you look to be very lucky with the weather. We’ve had grey skies & showers for the last couple of days.

[the mice]

14 hours ago, uktog said:

Most of the Western Isles are on the Gulf Stream, so even in very remote places there are beautiful flowers growing, like this rose bush on the Isle of Canna

 

We moved on to the haunting bleakness and isolation of St Kilda where we have been overnight and will explore the sea stacks later today 

 

 

Loving your pictures.   And those blue skies!

[uktog]

Today has shown us Callanish (Scotland’s Stonehenge but 1000 years older). And then Taransay a desserted island where Castaway was filmed which gave us a stunning sunset tonight. The Western Isles cruising is thoroughly recommended 
 

[Grandma Cruising]

Looks wonderful. Great photos.

[Host Jazzbeau]

@uktog so now I'm on the email list for The Majestic Line.  They have some very interesting itineraries, including the one you are on.  What are the ships like?

[uktog]

You have to remember they aren’t big but they are comfortable, family style dining small bedrooms but good showers. There’s an open policy so we often sit with the skipper in the wheelhouse and there’s no previously set itinerary- we ended up at St Kilda and not on the East of Lewis as weather said that was best. 

[uktog]

Some more Scottish beauty on Barra, Rhum, Muick and Mull the last few days. We are having our first rain in nine days but it gave a stunning sunset 

[nordski]

Looking at uktog’s delightful pictures is somewhat bittersweet as we were to be on Azamara’s Scotland intensive cruise last August.

 

The photos remind us that we should look for another opportunity.

 

Thanks so much for posting them.

[mwf7501]

Ok, I know it's Irish, not Scottish, but the phone booth immediately took me back to "Waking Ned Devine", and gave me a smile.   Gracias.