The Daily for Sunday 01/09/2022

[Cruising-along]

1 hour ago, dfish said:

I never knew this before:   Mother Nature Network lauded possums for their pest control attributes, explaining, "Since their diet allows them to indulge on snails, slugs and beetles, they are a welcome addition to the garden. Opossums also keep rats and cockroaches at bay by competing with them for food. In fact, it's common for opossums to kill cockroaches and rats if they find them in their territory."

Thanks Debbie.  I'm sure they have their good points.  Unfortunately my neighbor left food out for an abandoned cat (not unfortunate for the cat, but because it drew the opossums). I think it was the way they would stare us down that creeped me out the most!  Absolutely no fear about coming onto our porches or yards.

 

" "Opossums that are fed by people often lose their fear of humans and may become aggressive "

Edited January 9, 2022 by Cruising-along

[dfish]

3 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Thanks Debbie.  I'm sure they have their good points.  Unfortunately my neighbor left food out for an abandoned cat (not unfortunate for the cat, but because it drew the opossums). I think it was the way they would stare us down that creeped me out the most!  Absolutely no fear about coming onto our porches or yards.

 

I thought this came under the heading of Who Knew?    The things you learn.

[Copper10-8]

9 hours ago, richwmn said:

Today is National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day......................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Himself]

Rich, your DAILY fleet report is always appreciated even if I am a bit late in going to it.  It looks to as if the Nieuw Amsterdam is docked in Ft. Lauderdale today,

[bennybear]

You’re welcome for the owl photos, one of the benefits of living on the frozen tundra!  I can still not like your comments, thank you CC! .  
 

One  more of the owl bowing for the appreciation and one of his pellets for interest.   

[Tbay]

Thanks to all who help keep this site running, especially Rich, Roy, dfish, summer slope and Cat shepard.  Repeats are fine, but who ever thought we would still be living with Covid after all this time?

 

I agree with all those who urge you to do a balloon flight.  Did one in Cappadocia, flying over the fairy chimneys and the Rose Valley.  In my case, the pilot put the balloon down right on the trailer.  Amazing!

 

I will celebrate Law Enforcement Day, as my son is a sargeant with the local police force, and in charge of the Emergency Response Team.  Unfortunately , he, his wife, and 5 year old are all suffering from Covid  right now. DS and DIL were both double vaccinated, but the little one wasn't yet.

 

Sending prayers to all those that need them, especially @kazuand Tana. 

 

 

[Himself]

5 minutes ago, Tbay said:

Thanks to all who help keep this site running, especially Rich, Roy, dfish, summer slope and Cat shepard.  Repeats are fine, but who ever thought we would still be living with Covid after all this time?

 

I agree with all those who urge you to do a balloon flight.  Did one in Cappadocia, flying over the fairy chimneys and the Rose Valley.  In my case, the pilot put the balloon down right on the trailer.  Amazing!

 

I will celebrate Law Enforcement Day, as my son is a sargeant with the local police force, and in charge of the Emergency Response Team.  Unfortunately , he, his wife, and 5 year old are all suffering from Covid  right now. DS and DIL were both double vaccinated, but the little one wasn't yet.

 

Sending prayers to all those that need them, especially @kazuand Tana. 

 

 

Tell your son I said Thanks for his service.

[ger_77]

19 minutes ago, Tbay said:

 

I will celebrate Law Enforcement Day, as my son is a sargeant with the local police force, and in charge of the Emergency Response Team.  Unfortunately , he, his wife, and 5 year old are all suffering from Covid  right now. DS and DIL were both double vaccinated, but the little one wasn't yet.

 

 

I'm sorry to hear your son and his family are all suffering from Covid; hopefully they'll be back to good health soon!

 

Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

[smitty34877]

1 hour ago, Tbay said:

Thanks to all who help keep this site running, especially Rich, Roy, dfish, summer slope and Cat shepard.  Repeats are fine, but who ever thought we would still be living with Covid after all this time?

 

I agree with all those who urge you to do a balloon flight.  Did one in Cappadocia, flying over the fairy chimneys and the Rose Valley.  In my case, the pilot put the balloon down right on the trailer.  Amazing!

 

I will celebrate Law Enforcement Day, as my son is a sargeant with the local police force, and in charge of the Emergency Response Team.  Unfortunately , he, his wife, and 5 year old are all suffering from Covid  right now. DS and DIL were both double vaccinated, but the little one wasn't yet.

 

Sending prayers to all those that need them, especially @kazuand 

I am sorry to hear about the family.I hope they improve soon.

[JAM37]

1 hour ago, Tbay said:

Thanks to all who help keep this site running, especially Rich, Roy, dfish, summer slope and Cat shepard.  Repeats are fine, but who ever thought we would still be living with Covid after all this time?

 

I agree with all those who urge you to do a balloon flight.  Did one in Cappadocia, flying over the fairy chimneys and the Rose Valley.  In my case, the pilot put the balloon down right on the trailer.  Amazing!

 

I will celebrate Law Enforcement Day, as my son is a sargeant with the local police force, and in charge of the Emergency Response Team.  Unfortunately , he, his wife, and 5 year old are all suffering from Covid  right now. DS and DIL were both double vaccinated, but the little one wasn't yet.

 

Sending prayers to all those that need them, especially @kazuand Tana. 

 

 

I am very sorry to hear your son's family has Covid. I will be praying for them all.

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Good afternoon. Since it was a nice, sunny if breezy day, we took a road trip to Lake Havasu City as it's been a while since we've been there.   Because of Omicron, we basically drove around looking at areas we'd missed before and then drove through the old downtown area.  While other parts of town had quite a few closed businesses, but the old downtown still had a lot of open businesses.

 

On the way back through Parker,, we stopped at the big box store and a grocery store.  Unlike LHC, the stores in Parker had mask mandates with high compliance.  Most of Parker is on the CRIT reservation which issued and enforces the mandates. It was a big change from ten days ago.

 

Our plan had been to eat in LHC, but between bad timing and a lot of maskless faces, we will be having BLTs for supper at home.

 

8 hours ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Good morning everyone and Happy Sunday!  Great collection of days today. I won’t ever get in a hot air balloon but enjoy watching them from a distance. We have some here in town that I used to see while driving to work in the cold mornings. 
 

The meal suggestion sounds good. I like eggplant and the first recipe Debbie @dfishposted looks really good, I just don’t have all the ingredients, but I do have eggplant. Yesterday we just had bean soup leftovers and I added some ground beef like Sandi @StLouisCruiserssuggested. Today I’m going to use the rest of the ground beef in a stuffed eggplant recipe from Ina Garten. Our covid tests were negative, yay!  So Craig went to TJ’s for us. 
 

Joy @Seasick Sailor, I hope you are able to stay onboard longer. 
 

@GTVCRUISER Bon Voyage!  ⛴⛴. I met you on our October Koningsdam cruise at the M&G that Seth Wayne was talking and Linda, @lindaler organized. Enjoy!

Have a great day everyone!

 

 

So glad you tested negative.  Hope DS and DGD are feeling better.

 

7 hours ago, Overhead Fred said:

We are enjoying the photos of Eidfjord. We will be there May 1, 2023 on the Rotterdam! 

 

We had eggplant last night. One of the shops I frequent had eggplant at 99 cents a pound which seemed like a heckuva deal. So I got one not knowing what we were going to do with it. Well, I made a baked pasta dish with it last night. 

 

I sautéed a bit of sweet Italian sausage and cubed eggplant (skin on), added jarred marinara sauce, parmesan cheese, Italian spice mix, 1/2 pound cooked farfalle pasta. I topped it with shredded Gouda cheese (since there was no mozzarella in the house) and popped it in a 350F oven for a bit. It really was quite good and will be something I'll make again. 

 

Sunset as we sailed away from Port Everglades on Nov 27, 2021 -

 

 

 

 

Your pasta dish sounds good.

 

7 hours ago, Live4cruises said:

Good morning!  I am loving all the beautiful photos and fun memes as always.

Law Enforcement Appreciation Day brings back a happy memory.  Three years ago I was on a business trip and had an early flight from Detroit to Dallas.  While waiting for my Uber in Dallas, it dawned on me I didn’t have my computer bag - laptop, iPad, wallet, etc.  I was tired and preoccupied with the next very important meeting, and had left it hanging in a restroom stall.  What a disaster!  Thanks to one amazing and relentless ticket agent who tracked it down, we were successfully reunited.  I was told the security guard at a nearby gate would have it for me.  I grinned from ear to ear when I saw the rather large gentleman holding my slightly feminine bag.  I told him that if it weren’t inappropriate, I would surely give him a hug.  He told me it was Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, and it would be perfectly fine.  That is the best airline experience I’ve ever had!

We are also privileged to have a police officer and his wonderful family as next door neighbors.  We appreciate them every day!

@GTVCRUISER, Make sure you leave the Mighty K shipshape!  We will be aboard in only ELEVEN SHORT WEEKS!!  Can you tell I’m excited?

Wishing everyone firm footing, happiness, and the occasional miracle.

 

Glad your story had a happy ending.

 

7 hours ago, garlictown said:

Sadly, we disembarked the beautiful Rotterdam this morning and tomorrow we'll fly back to California.  What a wonderful experience seeing others from this site!😊 Here are a few highlights from the cruise....😉

Katie

 

 

 

 

Glad you had a great cruise.  Safe travels home tomorrow.

 

7 hours ago, bennybear said:

Good morning and thanks all!  Still no luck reacting, please know I like the posts and photos!  We visited Eidfjord as well and enjoyed that nature centre and quiet walk.    I will happily celebrate law enforcement.  Love hot air balloons, my grandmother celebrated her 80 th birthday in one!  
 

We were very blessed to see a snowy owl yesterday 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful pictures of a beautiful bird.  Not sure about the third picture. 😉 

 

5 hours ago, ottahand7 said:

Couldn't resist.  Our back porch last night.

 

When we lived in The Woodlands, we often had raccoons and skunks finish our cats' food.  The skunk showed its appreciation for dinner by behaving and not spraying.  😁  At the beginning of summer, he was just a small juvenile and at the end of summer he was so fat he could hardly get up on the deck.  One night we had a opossum which our 7 pound mini dachshund  caught.  The opossum played dead.  That's when DH discovered that opossums stink.  Pour dog got two baths that night.

 

2 hours ago, Tbay said:

Thanks to all who help keep this site running, especially Rich, Roy, dfish, summer slope and Cat shepard.  Repeats are fine, but who ever thought we would still be living with Covid after all this time?

 

I agree with all those who urge you to do a balloon flight.  Did one in Cappadocia, flying over the fairy chimneys and the Rose Valley.  In my case, the pilot put the balloon down right on the trailer.  Amazing!

 

I will celebrate Law Enforcement Day, as my son is a sargeant with the local police force, and in charge of the Emergency Response Team.  Unfortunately , he, his wife, and 5 year old are all suffering from Covid  right now. DS and DIL were both double vaccinated, but the little one wasn't yet.

 

Sending prayers to all those that need them, especially @kazuand Tana. 

 

 

 

Hope your DS and his family are better soon,.

 

Lenda

[cat shepard]

14 minutes ago, red_red_ribbon said:

Hello.

Hello! Welcome to the Daily!

[dobiemom]

47 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Good afternoon. Since it was a nice, sunny if breezy day, we took a road trip to Lake Havasu City as it's been a while since we've been there.   Because of Omicron, we basically drove around looking at areas we'd missed before and then drove through the old downtown area.  While other parts of town had quite a few closed businesses, but the old downtown still had a lot of open businesses.

Have you ever been to the Western Winter Blast? Four nights of amazing fireworks. We’ve been going for several years (except for last year). 
 

6 hours ago, marshhawk said:

Since I fixed a late lunch yesterday when I got off from "work", (it was an Italian sausage sub with peppers and onions, tomato sauce and provolone melted and bubbly on top served open face) (sorry I'm drooling again....) any way, since it was a late lunch, a late dinner was out of the question. (not supposed to eat after 7) so I suggested we just have dessert for dinner.  So we had vanilla ice-cream with a heated Maple Apple Drizzle on top.

 

Was this wrong?

 

LOL

Nope, not at all. 😄 Sound scrumptious. 😋

[JAM37]

51 minutes ago, red_red_ribbon said:

Hello.

Hi. Welcome to the Daily.

[Sharon in AZ]

9 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

Sharon @Sharon in AZgood to hear you enjoyed the ground beef addition to your bean soup.  I just searched for my recipe for Calico Bean Bake.  I found an old clipping from the newspaper and a recipe card I had hand written with two minor changes.  I had cut down on the onion and used a little less bacon.  WHY?  I have no idea but my DD hates onion so that might be why we cut down on that.  Maybe we thought the bacon was overpowering the beef, but bacon is good with anything so I say try it with the full pound.  I'll type out the recipe for you from the original.  We got the recipe from our neighbors who invited us and a few other friends to their beach rental at Corolla on the Outer Banks in North Carolina.  It was a fun weekend with a lot of good food.  This was served and we all enjoyed it!

 

 CALICO BEAN BAKE

 

1 pound ground chuck

1 pound bacon (cut up in small pieces)

1 cup chopped onion

 

Place in a large bowl:

1 tsp. dry mustard

2 tsps. vinegar

½ cup ketchup

1 tsp. salt

½ cup brown sugar

1 20 oz. can pork and beans

1 #2 can lima beans (drained)

1 #2 can butter beans (not drained)

1 can kidney beans (not drained)

 

Fry the bacon – drain off most of the fat.  Add meat and then onions and brown.  Mix together with the ingredients in the large bowl.  Place in a large casserole (or two smaller ones).  Bake for one hour in a 350 degree oven uncovered.  This recipe makes quite a bit.  Some may be frozen when cool, covered tightly.

 

 

 

 

Thank you Sandi!  I’ll have to make this for sure. And after reading the recipe I believe I’ve had it before at church potlucks. Thank you for sharing the recipe. 

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

1 hour ago, red_red_ribbon said:

Hello.

 

Welcome to the Daily.  I think you'll find this the friendliest, most supportive thread on CC.  Hope we see more of you here.

 

1 hour ago, dobiemom said:

Have you ever been to the Western Winter Blast? Four nights of amazing fireworks. We’ve been going for several years (except for last year). 
 

Nope, not at all. 😄 Sound scrumptious. 😋

 

No, we've never been.  In fact, this is the first we've heard of it.  We don't get much info about LHC here in Quartzsite.  Maybe we can go once it is a little safer.

 

BTW, if we have a late lunch, especially since we only ear too meals a day , we'll have desert at dinner time.

 

Lenda 

 

[grapau27]

10 hours ago, Tbay said:

Thanks to all who help keep this site running, especially Rich, Roy, dfish, summer slope and Cat shepard.  Repeats are fine, but who ever thought we would still be living with Covid after all this time?

 

I agree with all those who urge you to do a balloon flight.  Did one in Cappadocia, flying over the fairy chimneys and the Rose Valley.  In my case, the pilot put the balloon down right on the trailer.  Amazing!

 

I will celebrate Law Enforcement Day, as my son is a sargeant with the local police force, and in charge of the Emergency Response Team.  Unfortunately , he, his wife, and 5 year old are all suffering from Covid  right now. DS and DIL were both double vaccinated, but the little one wasn't yet.

 

Sending prayers to all those that need them, especially @kazuand Tana. 

 

 

I'm sorry to hear your son,DIL and grandchild have Covid.

Prayers 🙏 for a very quick recovery for them all.

Graham.

[grapau27]

8 hours ago, red_red_ribbon said:

Hello.

A very warm welcome to you.

Graham.

[rafinmd]

9 hours ago, red_red_ribbon said:

Hello.

Welcome to the Daily and to posting on Cruise Critic.

 

Roy

[puppycanducruise]

@TbayHope your son and family are better soon.

[puppycanducruise]

10 hours ago, red_red_ribbon said:

Hello.

Hello!

[Stakeout]

On 1/9/2022 at 5:01 PM, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

 

LE Day brings back a lot of good old memories for me in my 'previous life' retiring from the Suffolk County PD on Long Island (NY) 31 years ago.. was on the KODM with Captain Henk from Nov 14 thru Jan 9-- 8 back to backs