Cunard Cruisers - How are things where you are ?

[bluemarble]

These VE Day Celebration display photos inspired this American cousin to get in the spirit with a Cunard touch. Here is my humble contribution using a Queen Mary 2 glass and also a couple flags from a Southampton sail-away on one of the Cunard ships.

 

[Camgirl]

Very good bluemarble. A nice touch.

 

The teddy in the window is for the children to spot whilst on their lockdown walks. There are quite a lot in windows around the town. Thought he should hold a flag too. He is, of course, a Cunard teddy!

[pmcl]

A Beautiful day In Sydney today, and what a sail away on QE we could have had, all but for the pandemic.

But not to worry, I shall open a good bottle of bubbly later this afternoon, sit on our balcony and thank our lucky stars that we are still healthy, and that I hadn't booked more than the cruise to Vancouver...

Here's to better times in the not too distant future.

[Bigmike911]

This has turned out to be a great day. This afternoon I listened to a wonderful program on Classic FM presented by Nicholas Soames, Celebrating the VE Day, seventy-fifth anniversary.This evening I got caught up in the VE day celebration on You Tube with a great (small) concert in the empty Royal Albert Hall with Katherine Jenkins singing some of the songs of WW II, including a virtual solo with Dame Vera Lynn, which lead me to look for other Vera Lynn videos. After hearing those wonderful, uplifting songs, how could the future look anything but bright. 

Edited May 9, 2020 by Bigmike911

[buffyone]

We have been busy planting vegetables and going back to old recipes and baking from home. It has been a time to reflect, although 2 months ago it seemed like May was so far away. 

 

There have been many inspiring stories throughout the past few months such as Capt Tom Moore and this hero below

96-year-old WWII veteran is running coast-to-coast again. This time to raise money to sail a restored ship

 

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, Bigmike911 said:

This has turned out to be a great day. This afternoon I listened to a wonderful program on Classic FM presented by Nicholas Soames, Celebrating the VE Day, seventy-fifth anniversary.This evening I got caught up in the VE day celebration on You Tube with a great (small) concert in the empty Royal Albert Hall with Katherine Jenkins singing some of the songs of WW II, including a virtual solo with Dame Vera Lynn, which lead me to look for other Vera Lynn videos. After hearing those wonderful, uplifting songs, how could the future look anything but bright. 

 

Thanks so much for recommending Katherine Jenkins' performance at the Royal Albert Hall. I just watched that myself on youtube. I found that performance both moving and inspirational. I thought it was a great way to commemorate the events of 75 years ago as well as to pay tribute to those serving in our current situation and offer hope for a brighter future indeed.

 

Her rendition of "Jerusalem" to end the performance gave me goosebumps. That brought back wonderful memories of when Mrs. Bluemarble and I sang that hymn together in Hyde Park near the end of the "Proms in the Park" event on Last Night of the Proms which was also the last night of our honeymoon in the UK.

[Kynance]

@Bigmike911 - glad to hear you are a Classic FM fan - it’s my choice of radio station too. I listen for most of the day when I’m working at home and then switch to BBC Radio 4 at 5pm UK time for PM with Evan Davis, to catch up with the day’s news. 
 

Talking of news, yesterday was the first day that Coronavirus was not top of the news headlines in a long time. It was really refreshing to hear about the way people were improvising socially distant commemorations & celebrations. We had a great afternoon here, with music and conversation at a safe distance with neighbours, scones and champagne. The Queen again struck the perfect note with her broadcast in the evening. Felt very proud to be British! 😊 🇬🇧 

[Host Hattie]

Thanks for the updates, it's great to hear from you all.

I'm glad some of you managed to celebrate safely with your neighbours, some of the reports suggest that social distancing wasn't well maintained everywhere.

It's been another beautiful day here, Mr HH has been pottering about, putting up a gazebo and some outside lights, I'm not entirely sure why !

The weather is supposed to be cooling down from tomorrow so I'll try to catch up with the Katherine Jenkins concert. We sang "Jerusalem" at our wedding so tissues may be required.

I heard snippets of the Queen's speech on the news, she seems to have done another good job.

[Bigmike911]

This evening I went to collect my take away Mexican food, and got a chance to peek into the dining room. There were well space tables of folk enjoying their dine-in experience. It looked quite "normal" except for the servers with masks. Just taking everything here day by day, but it was a sunny one with work in the garden, I am still in a great mood. Have a good Sunday folks. 

[Colin_Cameron]

After a month of almost constant sunshine things are now back to normal. Snow, sleet and hail.

 

There seems to some confusion over the latest (UK) government advice. Someone on social media summed it up much better, "The easing of restrictions doesn't mean the crisis is over. It just means we now have space for your body in the morgue."

[Ray66]

First it was toilet rolls, now it's building materials. This is the typical scene at B&Q and B&M.

 

 

[Host Hattie]

Plenty of confusion on the changes in England on my various Whatsapp groups and on a catch up with fellow Union representatives. There are due to be changes announced to the furlough scheme this week so that will probably bring more confusion.

Apart from that, we're still fine here. It's our wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks so if anyone has any good suggestions for 19 years available via home delivery I'd be interested !

[frankp01]

At the risk of boring everyone, here's a photo of our most recent virtual happy hour. So far, in our happy hours, we've been seen in our cabin, at a table on the mezzanine of the Britania dining room, in the Carinthia Lounge, and now at the bar in the Commodore Club. I have a backdrop of the Chart Room ready to go for this coming Friday.  I also have a photo of the champagne lounge that might turn out well. At that point, I think I'll have run out of options (unless I can find a photo of the library that's suitable) We're trying to convince the London-based participant in the calls to come along when we're next able to do transAtlantic, so the virtual backgrounds are a subtle propaganda. But they're keeping up our spirits as well, since I don't think we'll be sailing this December, as we'd hoped.

[Host Hattie]

I'm definitely not bored, those are so clever. Does the propaganda seem to be working ?

[Camgirl]

I can recommend several Afternoon Teas (my speciality). In particular we recently had one called the 'love you' cream tea from the Cornish Scone Company.

Will try to attach a picture. It includes 2 large heart shaped jammy dodger biscuits.

[Camgirl]

Frankp01, i love your pictures. They are very clever!

[Bigmike911]

5 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Plenty of confusion on the changes in England on my various Whatsapp groups and on a catch up with fellow Union representatives. There are due to be changes announced to the furlough scheme this week so that will probably bring more confusion.

Apart from that, we're still fine here. It's our wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks so if anyone has any good suggestions for 19 years available via home delivery I'd be interested !

Fortnumandmason.com Will deliver a lovely bottle of good champagne to you. I sent a vintage Vueve Cliquot to pals in Surrey who were celebrating their anniversary and one's birthday as well. Have them send you some nice accompaniments to go with it. 

Edited May 11, 2020 by Bigmike911

[frankp01]

58 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Does the propaganda seem to be working ?

I think so. The problem is that we really enjoy the mid-December trips (you get to see the Christmas decorations put in place leaving NY) . I love the weather extremes on the north Atlantic at that time of year. In addition, that' month is when two of us can most easily get away from work. But that's one of his firm's busiest times. So, for him December is problematic. We may have to compromise and do the crossing in May or June. That may be the soonest we'd be able to do a trip anyway. And (assuming there are therapeutics or a vacine) what a way that would be to end our "house arrest".

[alc13]

Struggling with "reopening" here in the US.  I do not plan on going out without a mask for a long time, especially since so many around me are leaving theirs off.  Not sure about restaurants, either.  But I will make a beeline for the salon when they're ready for me.

 

An article in the local paper described the frustration of dentists, who are not yet allowed to see patients for routine appointments but are reporting an increase in serious dental problems.  I was suddenly extremely thankful that my teeth are okay.  Worried now that I've tempted fate by saying so. 

 

Mr ALC13 has embarked on a huge new vegetable garden project.  Part of the work will be putting a large fence around it to keep the deer out.  For now he happily inspects his seedlings every day.  I think I need a similarly ambitious project to dive into. 

[BTV]

Hi from Nova Scotia. I have been enjoying reading every bodies post so thought I would chime in today.  We would have been leaving today  to travel to England   join the Queen Victoria on Friday for a Baltic cruise. Our first on that ship and we were excited to compare it with The Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.  We plan on getting in our finery on what would be our first formal night and having a special meal..My husband loves Churchill’s so hopefully the weather can co operate and he can have a cigar on our deck.

 

During this time we are staying very close to home. I seem to spend a good part of my day talking to friends and family on phone or by face time. I am originally from Liverpool England and I have one daughter who lives in Edinburgh.I do help out my daughter here who has two young children when she needs to attend important on line meetings.

 

Nova Scotia is doing relatively well with the pandemic but not as good as our neighbouring provinces of New Brunswick and PEI   We have been following the lock down protocols since the middle of March and no relaxations in the near future. Our premiere came up with the catch phrase Stay the Blazes Home which has stuck. There has been a lot of other tragedies in this province so Nova Scotia Strong has also become our motto.

 

We look forward to the day we can pack our cases and go off to new adventures 

[Host Hattie]

Nice to hear from you @BTV, I think we're all looking forward to that day. My husband keeps reminding me that we were lucky to get a holiday in February but I'm really missing having a trip to look forward to. On the other hand at least we don't have any money tied up.

The extension to the furlough scheme sounds good, we just need to see the details and understand what our company plans to do.

Thanks for the anniversary suggestions, Mr HH's favourite champagne is Krug so I might see if there's enough in the piggy bank for a bottle.

The difference in the lockdown now between England and Wales has led to some confusion and reports of people in England trying to drive to Wales for their exercise. Fans of Gavin & Stacey might recognise Nessa, the caption is Oh, Wales is closed !

[Kynance]

@Host Hattie - love the photo of Nessa! A well placed sense of humour during these challenging times is always welcome. 😀
 

I am quite frustrated that hairdressers won’t be able to re-open before 4 July at the earliest - that feels to me like they will have been shut for longer than in a lot of other countries. In the salon I go to, there is enough space for clients to social distance and as we see from elsewhere in Europe the stylists and clients are wearing masks, equipment is being frequently cleaned and hand sanitisers are being used. Whilst I can see the logic for most of the other measures - though the messaging isn’t always clear - I think closing hairdressers and barbers for more than three months seems a bit much. Not sure what anyone else thinks, but if my salon could open with these precautions in place I would be happy to give it my business. Without labouring the point too much - and always appreciative of being fortunate in so many other ways - the inability to get my hair cut may turn out to be the biggest issue for me of the lockdown. Anyway, moan over! 😉
 

Have a good week everyone. 

[alc13]

3 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Mr HH's favourite champagne is Krug so I might see if there's enough in the piggy bank for a bottle.

Mmmmmmm.....  a splurge-worthy champagne.  Go for it!

[bluemarble]

5 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

... The difference in the lockdown now between England and Wales has led to some confusion and reports of people in England trying to drive to Wales for their exercise. Fans of Gavin & Stacey might recognise Nessa, the caption is Oh, Wales is closed ! ...

 

This forum is always good for an education in British idioms for this American. I now know what "Sling your hook" means and even learned about its origins thanks to a google search.

Edited May 12, 2020 by bluemarble

[Camgirl]

Kynance, I feel your pain! My salon only has two chairs and they are quite far apart. However, my stylist has chron's disease, so I imagine that puts her at increased risk and I wouldn't like her to be feeling anxious.

 

On the other hand, my hair is driving me crazy already! Waiting until July, and then fighting everyone else to get a slot, is going to be horrendous! I have attacked my fringe but would never dare to try any more.