Azamara Cruisers - How are things where YOU are

[Bloodaxe]

To the East of the Dales are the Yorkshire Moors with Whitby on the coast, the valley in between is the Vale of York.(were we live), with the City of York the main place of interest.

To the south of the moors are the Wolds ( Grandma's area).

[nordski]

1 hour ago, Bloodaxe said:

To the East of the Dales are the Yorkshire Moors with Whitby on the coast, the valley in between is the Vale of York.(were we live), with the City of York the main place of interest.

To the south of the moors are the Wolds ( Grandma's area).

 

Odd that I had a vague notion about the geography of Yorkshire and I really appreciate the clarification from you and Grandma.

 

The obvious followup question is, why would anyone choose to live anywhere else in the UK? 🙂

 

I can guess that employment opportunities might be part of the answer. But that may be completely off base.

[nordski]

2 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

A dale is a valley - the Yorkshire Dales is an area of hills rising from the Vale of York. The area has some wonderful scenery. Have a look at this website https://www.yorkshire.com/places/yorkshire-dales

 

That's a fabulous website. Thanks for posting it.

 

Although we may be months or years away from transatlantic flying, I can still imagine visiting your beautiful Yorkshire.

 

I have a friend who, until the recent problems, would spend a month each year in the UK. He has stayed in Shropshire, Devon, Cornwall, etc., but never in Yorkshire. I shall now question his judgement.

Edited June 2, 2020 by nordski

[Bloodaxe]

14 hours ago, nordski said:

 

Odd that I had a vague notion about the geography of Yorkshire and I really appreciate the clarification from you and Grandma.

 

The obvious followup question is, why would anyone choose to live anywhere else in the UK? 🙂

 

I can guess that employment opportunities might be part of the answer. But that may be completely off base.

 

Employment played a big part in where people lived years ago, most of the work was in the mines, mills and factories of South and West Yorkshire with fishing in East Yorkshire.

The Dales and other country area mainly agricultural work.

Places like Sheffield,(Steel), Leeds and Bradford,(Textiles), numerous Coal Mines and Power Stations( my work area)in the county.

With changing technology that is not necessarily the case anymore.

[Grandma Cruising]

36 minutes ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

Employment played a big part in where people lived years ago, most of the work was in the mines, mills and factories of South and West Yorkshire with fishing in East Yorkshire.

The Dales and other country area mainly agricultural work.

Places like Sheffield,(Steel), Leeds and Bradford,(Textiles), numerous Coal Mines and Power Stations( my work area)in the county.

With changing technology that is not necessarily the case anymore.

That’s very true, but as you say things are changing. The area around the Humber has become much more of a centre for development and manufacturing in the area of renewable energy and sustainability. Fairly recently Siemens brought a huge wind turbine factory to Hull and we have many wind farms off our coast in the North Sea. It’s a good job because Hull was primarily a fishing port in the past, sending trawlers to distant waters off Iceland, Greenland, Labrador & Norway, but following the Icelandic  ‘Cod wars’ and with Britain joining the EU this almost entirely died from the 1970s. 

https://fishingnews.co.uk/news/ports-of-the-past-hull-harbour/

[nordski]

3 hours ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

Employment played a big part in where people lived years ago, most of the work was in the mines, mills and factories of South and West Yorkshire with fishing in East Yorkshire.

The Dales and other country area mainly agricultural work.

Places like Sheffield,(Steel), Leeds and Bradford,(Textiles), numerous Coal Mines and Power Stations( my work area)in the county.

With changing technology that is not necessarily the case anymore.

 

The pandemic has not only had a huge impact on cruising and tourism in general, but also on workplace patterns. We shall see which of these impacts lasts longer.

 

On a personal note, you mentioned Sheffield and when I was a young boy one of my goals was to own a knife made from Sheffield steel. Why I wanted one now escapes my memory, although Boy Scouts may have played a role. Regardless, in my unsophisticated opinion, any blade from that city was quality.

[Bloodaxe]

I well remember that I and most of my friends had Sheffield made knives Bowie style, which we carried on our belts.

It certainly would not be allowed today, then it was just normal to us and we would never have used them to harm anyone.

We also had home made catapults and bows and arrows, different world.

Edited June 3, 2020 by Bloodaxe

[Baynanno1]

11 hours ago, Bloodaxe said:

I well remember that I and most of my friends had Sheffield made knives Bowie style, which we carried on our belts.

It certainly would not be allowed today, then it was just normal to us and we would never have used them to harm anyone.

We also had home made catapults and bows and arrows, different world.

 

We did not have knives, but made catapults, bows & arrows and wooden swords used in harmless backyard play.

 

On a positive note in Australia, social distancing has resulted in much lower numbers of seasonal influenza! ☺️

[nordski]

We are well into spring now and, unfortunately, our province is not leading the table on best results from our covid policies.

 

However, a pair of loons has set up home on our local lake and their calls (there are several vocalizations) are a quintessential part of summer living in our near north. To us it is a beautiful sound and one I heard on my walk this morning.

 

I have attached a sound clip.

 

 

In the 1960's, one of the concerns about the use of DDT was its effect on the strength of birds' eggs, including those of the Loon.

 

Loons are found elsewhere in North America, but we like to think that there is a distinct Canadian Loon species.

 

And if you have met Canadians you might already have surmised that, as "loons" go, we are indeed unique. I thought I should say that before someone else posted it. 🙂

 

Or. given our failure in this pandemic reaction, perhaps the uniqueness is confined to Ontario.

 

[Mackdogmolly]

38 minutes ago, nordski said:

We are well into spring now and, unfortunately, our province is not leading the table on best results from our covid policies.

 

However, a pair of loons has set up home on our local lake and their calls (there are several vocalizations) are a quintessential part of summer living in our near north. To us it is a beautiful sound and one I heard on my walk this morning.

 

I have attached a sound clip.

 

 

In the 1960's, one of the concerns about the use of DDT was its effect on the strength of birds' eggs, including those of the Loon.

 

Loons are found elsewhere in North America, but we like to think that there is a distinct Canadian Loon species.

 

And if you have met Canadians you might already have surmised that, as "loons" go, we are indeed unique. I thought I should say that before someone else posted it. 🙂

 

Or. given our failure in this pandemic reaction, perhaps the uniqueness is confined to Ontario.

 

Thanks for posting that, Nordski! Haunting! We love Canada, and living so close to the border, visit often. At least we did before the borders were closed. 

[Grandma Cruising]

Wow, that’s very haunting.

[nordski]

43 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Wow, that’s very haunting.

 

Haunting in a good way, I hope.It's an amazing way to start the day and, more typically, to end it.

 

It's the call they use to keep track of their partners.

 

You can get a ringtone of that call.

[nordski]

1 hour ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Thanks for posting that, Nordski! Haunting! We love Canada, and living so close to the border, visit often. At least we did before the borders were closed. 

 

Quick quiz! is the furniture below a Muskoka or Adirondack Chair?

 

https://www.lowes.ca/product/patio-chairs/bear-chair-pine-muskoka-773096?&cm_mmc=shopping_google-_-6444651998-_-76957851997-_-pla-899391979169&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvbP89LPo6QIVqNSzCh208wcwEAQYASABEgLtW_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Ahh, I think you will know it depends side of the border you are on. But in either case it's the perfect chair for sitting on the dock in the evening, listening to the loons.

 

We have been through Burlington several times and once camped just north of it. Beautiful area. 

 

Really hope we can visit it in person again.

 

 

[Bloodaxe]

26 minutes ago, nordski said:

 

Haunting in a good way, I hope.It's an amazing way to start the day and, more typically, to end it.

 

It's the call they use to keep track of their partners.

 

You can get a ringtone of that call.

 

I have a CD called Loon Eco Lake that I purchased in Canada , it has the calls of the Loon and other birds and animals set to music.

I also remember the Loons in the film On Golden Pond, we have actually visited the lake in New England where it was filmed.

 

In Scotland and Scandinavia there is a very similar bird the Great Northern Diver, I am no expert but I believe they are related, they look and sound almost the same.

Edited June 4, 2020 by Bloodaxe

[Mackdogmolly]

45 minutes ago, nordski said:

 

Quick quiz! is the furniture below a Muskoka or Adirondack Chair?

 

https://www.lowes.ca/product/patio-chairs/bear-chair-pine-muskoka-773096?&cm_mmc=shopping_google-_-6444651998-_-76957851997-_-pla-899391979169&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvbP89LPo6QIVqNSzCh208wcwEAQYASABEgLtW_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Ahh, I think you will know it depends side of the border you are on. But in either case it's the perfect chair for sitting on the dock in the evening, listening to the loons.

 

We have been through Burlington several times and once camped just north of it. Beautiful area. 

 

Really hope we can visit it in person again.

 

 

Haha! Well, I guess you know we would call it an Adirondack! Those lovely mountains are just across the lake from us. Burlington, as you know, is on beautiful Lake Champlain. If you DO visit, be sure to let me know!

[nordski]

5 hours ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

I have a CD called Loon Eco Lake that I purchased in Canada , it has the calls of the Loon and other birds and animals set to music.

I also remember the Loons in the film On Golden Pond, we have actually visited the lake in New England where it was filmed.

 

In Scotland and Scandinavia there is a very similar bird the Great Northern Diver, I am no expert but I believe they are related, they look and sound almost the same.

Thanks for pointing that out. Indeed It turns out that the Great Northern Diver, found throughout Northern Eurasia, is very similar to our Common Loon.
 

On our Azamara cruise to Norway we were struck by how much of the flora and fauna was very similar to that found in our North. As a guide pointed out, Continental Drift played a major role in that similarity.

 

But we hadn’t noticed that parallel nearly as much when on our cruise around Scotland. Unfortunately we had to cancel our proposed Scottish cruise scheduled for this August. We will miss the Diver.

 

Now I have to concede that the “quintessential” Ontario experience with the Loon is hardly unique. But it’s still part of our summer lifestyle.

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, nordski said:

Now I have to concede that the “quintessential” Ontario experience with the Loon is hardly unique. But it’s still part of our summer lifestyle.

 

We'll let you keep the conceit – after all only Canada has honored the Loon on its money [and not just the image, but even the nickname of the $1 coin!]

 

[nordski]

16 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

We'll let you keep the conceit – after all only Canada has honored the Loon on its money [and not just the image, but even the nickname of the $1 coin!]

 

Well, I thought of that, but I didn’t want to experience the revelation that some minor state in Northern Eurasia had “scooped” us on that as well. 😢

 

Although surely the term “loonie”, assigned through common usage, and the image of the Queen on the obverse would confirm its uniqueness.

[Host Jazzbeau]

So, having raised the subject of national coinage:  I learned an interesting tip recently about the US quarter.  If you are asked to bet on a coin flip, always pick 'tails' because the image of George Washington on the face is heavier than the images used on the back.

 

Edit:  I don't have any proof of the above, but this article says that the phenomenon is very pronounced with a US penny that is spun:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/gamblers-take-note-the-odds-in-a-coin-flip-arent-quite-5050-145465423/

[Baynanno1]

@nordski thanks for posting "On Golden Pond" ☺️

[nordski]

On 6/2/2020 at 2:49 PM, nordski said:

 

 

I have a friend who, until the recent problems, would spend a month each year in the UK. He has stayed in Shropshire, Devon, Cornwall, etc., but never in Yorkshire. I shall now question his judgement.

My friend called last night and when I chided him for not enjoying a lengthy stay in Yorkshire he reminded me that, indeed, he had last autumn. Don’t know why, but I had thought that he was further south.

 

But there was perhaps a good reason I hadn’t realized where he was. 
 

He had rented a lovely cottage in the town of Loftus.

 

And he concedes that his judgement is still suspect. Perhaps Grandma and Bloodaxe know this area.

 

It seems to have been “different”.compared to our image of Yorkshire.

[Bloodaxe]

19 minutes ago, nordski said:

My friend called last night and when I chided him for not enjoying a lengthy stay in Yorkshire he reminded me that, indeed, he had last autumn. Don’t know why, but I had thought that he was further south.

 

But there was perhaps a good reason I hadn’t realized where he was. 
 

He had rented a lovely cottage in the town of Loftus.

 

And he concedes that his judgement is still suspect. Perhaps Grandma and Bloodaxe know this area.

 

It seems to have been “different”.compared to our image of Yorkshire.

 

I think that you may mean Lofthouse, a town in West Yorkshire on the edge of the Pennines.

The Pennines are the range of hills down the spine of England, ranging from Derbyshire through Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland up to the Scottish Boarder.

A long distance footpath the Pennine Way traverses all the way up to Scotland, very popular in the Summer months but even then it can see extreme weather.

 

Edited June 5, 2020 by Bloodaxe

[nordski]

3 hours ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

I think that you may mean Lofthouse, a town in West Yorkshire on the edge of the Pennines.

The Pennines are the range of hills down the spine of England, ranging from Derbyshire through Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland up to the Scottish Boarder.

A long distance footpath the Pennine Way traverses all the way up to Scotland, very popular in the Summer months but even then it can see extreme weather.

 

 

Indeed it probably was Lofthouse, our discussion diverged into a discussion of a colleague with the surname “Loftus”, and whether the family originated in that locale.

 

Thanks for the further information. My buddy chose to go there in late October. The owner of the local chippy, in a foreboding comment, asked him, “Why are you here?“

[Bloodaxe]

16 minutes ago, nordski said:

 

Indeed it probably was Lofthouse, our discussion diverged into a discussion of a colleague with the surname “Loftus”, and whether the family originated in that locale.

 

Thanks for the further information. My buddy chose to go there in late October. The owner of the local chippy, in a foreboding comment, asked him, “Why are you here?“

 

I can understand the owner of the chippy asking the question.

Lofthouse is in the heart of a former mining area and not that pretty in itself.

Although It is very close to some scenic areas has I mentioned before.

 

[Grandma Cruising]

And October is probably not the best time to be in that area. I’d guess it was wet, windy and probably cold.