V-E Day plus 80

  

May 7

All of you history buffs know that today is the anniversary V-E Day. 80 years ago today, the Germans surrendered and World War II was over in Europe.  And coincidently, that played into my talk to day. Not planned, just neat.

Times Square

It is getting late. After 9 p.m. here, and I just listened to DK’s Daily Shot of Pirates (ask Michael and Matthew if you don’t know what that is), so I’m going to be brief and then let Bonnie have at it.

Every group of staff on board has different uniforms  and the ones who wear the white shirts are climbing to the top of  their craft.  After breakfast today, Mom headed for the room to get some yarn and such and wait for me to join her for my next to last talk.  One of the white shirts came over to the table (Marigrace) and asked me how was breakfast, how am I enjoying the cruise and we talked for a good while she told me she has sailed since 1999.  She has  a 13 year old son back home in the Philippines while she is working at sea.  Her mom and dad are caring for the boy.  She’s away from home for 6, 7, 8 months at a time, but she can make money here like she cannot approach at home.  Hats off to Marigrace.

At dinner tonight, one of the offerings was Maine lobster, with the catch that it was $16.99 extra.  It’s funny that lobster is now a luxury dish, but when people started eating lobster in great amounts, it was a food for the poor.   The rich wouldn’t touch it.  Now the poor can’t afford it.  Astri asked Mom if she was going to have lobster and Mom said, “No.  The only good part about it is the butter and it’s not that good.”  Astri and Mom agreed that it would be much better with ketchup.  To which I voiced a hearty, “Yuck!”  I thought their exchanged was wonderful.  Don’t tell the chef we dissed his lobster.

Today was Fushawn, our assistant waiter’s 26th birthday, and 3 of the tables he serves gathered around him and sang happy birthday, and one couple had bought him a special birthday cake.  A good, but brief party it was.

And last from my fingers tonight – I should let Bonnie tell you  this – on the chandelier shade in the next dining room is a stain that she says looks like a squished roach.  I’ll send you a picture.

Closest shade. Cockroach?

And now it’s my sailing buddy’s turn.

TTFN

To begin with he was wro..wro..wr..wrong. But to that later. We got up before 7 and the alarm was set for 7:30. Oh well. We showered, dressed and headed to breakfast. His talk was not till 12. We ate at the Windjammer, really not much I wanted. I had a couple of pieces of pineapple and bacon, a spoonful of baked beans and half of an English muffin. Then (here is his error) I went for a walk after breakfast. I headed out and up to deck 12. OOPS! Sign on the sliding door the weather is too bad you can’t go out on 12. So down to 11 and walked round and round till I got my mile. The aerobics class was in a hot tub sitting in the Solarium (the adults only space) since the weather was COLD and Windy! Outside on the deck 11. But I was bundled up and walked anyway.

After walking I headed to the room, picked up my crocheting and my cup. Then off to 5 to get a drink and secure a seat in the lounge across from guest services to crochet while he prepared for his talk at 12.

At about 11:30 he joined me and we sat for a few minutes then headed for the theater. The 11:00 talk was in progress. We sat up in the top and waited till she finished. Then, he went off to the potty and came out and said “I forgot my clicker”. It was by now 11:45 and he said he would go get it but he would then be late. So off I go and I send him down to the stage to get the tech to get the show set up. So off I go up 2 flights of stairs, all the way across deck 5, down 3 flights of stairs, back the hall to our room, get the clicker, back down the hall, up 3 flights of stairs and across deck 5 and down 2 flights of stairs. It was now about 3 minutes to 12. And the tech was still trying to figure out how to get his program up on the screen. Really. This ship’s system is archaic. And the techs are just soso. They finally got everything up and going about 10 minutes after 12. Then, he was off and running. He finished just about 5 minutes before one. Then he talks to several people and we head to the room to change clothes.

By now it was well after one. So he had a sandwich at the café and I had pizza . They are located at opposite ends of deck 5. He found a seat in the café and I went and got my pizza and drink. When I got back he got something from the café. It was very crowded. There was a couple sitting in the small table beside our small table her phone plugged into the wall watching ticktock(?) and her husbands’ laptop plugged in and doing something. This a place to have lunch! They looked like they had been there all morning.

By the time we finished eating it was almost 2. So we went back to the cabin and napped. Again I had to use my c-pap machine. We slept about 2 hours. That is good because I didn’t sleep well last night.  We were up at 4 ish. Tonight was formal night again. So we dressed as formal as we can and headed off about 4:35. Supper was good I had an onion tart, an Indian meal with shrimp and a lot of spice, and the chocolate cake with chocolate sauce (it was not no sugar added 😊).

We were going to the show tonight, a magician, not my favorite but he likes magicians. So we headed out of the dining room. I don’t know if I have told you about the woman who rides a round in a scooter with a bulldog in her lap but she was there at dinner. She was sitting at a table with the dog perched on her lap and it was at the table. There were three other people at the table but they didn’t appear to be with her. All I have to say is if they seated me with her at the table with  the dog in her lap and on the table I would ask to be moved.

Well, we got to the theater and found seats, near our usual spot. The magician is the runner up in the show “The British Have Talent “ show. He said he lost to a three legged dog. He did about 5 tricks in 45 minutes. He talked more than anything else. He was not the greatest. Your Dad agreed.

After the show we headed to deck 5 from deck 3, I got a drink, we walked across deck 5 and down to 2 and are now in our room. We don’t dock till noon tomorrow. We have arranged for a TukTuk  ( a device for driving us around) to meet us at 2:30 for a private tour. We are staying over night so the next day we are going to a large church and the Aquarian. We are supposed to be parked right down town and the church is only 10 minutes away and the aquarian is about 30 minutes from the church. The ship sails away about 4:30 that day.

Well, Praying for better sleeping tonight. Don’t need to set an alarm for tomorrow. But there is a tribute to V E day we would like to go to tomorrow at 10. I probably won’t get in my walk.

Hope you are all doing okay with the rain. Be careful. Be safe. Love and Miss you all. We are going to spend some of our EUROS tomorrow😊.

Mom, Granny and Bonnie

Ponta Delgada

May 6

Ponta Delgada was shrouded in fog and clouds as the good ship Independence of the Seas pulled into harbor.  Two days ago two spots opened up on a waiting list that had been closed for two months and we secured the last seats for an excursion to an area called the Caldera, famous for two lakes which lie back-to-back  (pictures in  a few minutes). 

Mom and I had been up in the mountains to see that incredible site several years ago and it was rainy and overcast and just a bad day to sightsee a sight that depends on bright sunlight for its full effect.  With fingers crossed we boarded the last train out  of Clarksville (just a bit of humor thrown in for all you lovers of an old singing group, The Monkees).  Actually it was the last bus and as we drove higher into the mountains the fog and clouds began to lift.

It didn’t clear up completely, but it was a better view than we had seen before.  Coming down the mountain we were on the side of the Atlantic Ocean and the views were spectacular.  I’m sure Bonnie’s notes will give you a full description of the sight of the site and of the history of this incredible stop.  Somewhat disappointed, we nevertheless enjoyed our two hour bus ride, with  two photo ops.

When the bus returned to the dock we wandered into town instead of immediately gaining the ship.  We walked a bit down familiar streets and stopped in two souvenir stores where we spent 3 euros 95 cents.  One of the euros was for two postcards of the aforementioned lakes.

Back on board we had lunch in the Windjammer and then retired to 2409 for another two hour nap.  We are getting rather good at these two hour naps.   Featured back at 233 Woodland Drive they will completely exhaust Star Wars Episodes 1-3, Rogue One, and Episodes 4-7.  Political commentary: Episode 8 is the worst of the Star Wars movies ever made, even worse than the attack of the Teddie bears, and Episode 9 is just disgusting.

Supper tonight featured fish and chips, the fish advertised as being coated with a tempura batter.  All of you cooking competition fans, and good cooks, know that tempura is a very light batter made with rice flour.  Well, I don’t know what this was but it was not tempura and the batter out-weighted the fish.  Bonnie and I both peeled it off of the fish, mine then dipped in tartar sauce and hers in ketchup (not sure if it was Heinz or not, but that’s the way I speeled it).

Now it’s back to the  room where I’ve rehearsed for tomorrow’s talk, “The World’s Greatest Treasure Hunt,” and Mom is crocheting, soon to come to the keyboard.

Oh, before we came back to the room, she went to one end of Deck 5 where she refilled her drink, getting more  Coke Zero and I stopped at Guest Services, and when joined by Bon, we ordered chocolate covered strawberries sent to Karen and Michael, the couple who gave us their table in the window on the two nights they went to specialty restaurants.  It was a gesture we felt deserved a special thank you.

And now some photographs:

Green in front, blue in back, but the colors only come alive when there are no clouds blocking the sun.

The next two pictures, out  of order on the Atlantic side going back to the ship.

A derelict hotel, went bankrupt, bought by Chinese years ago to be refurbed. Still empty.

Okay, I’ve shared my thoughts -- and been tortured by this computer which back at 233 may be converted into a boat anchor) and now, for your reading pleasure, here is my beloved.

TTFN

Here I am finally! The day started at 7 am. Alarm had been set because we needed to be in the theater at 9:30 to catch the tour. We completed our necessary cleaning and dressing and headed to the Windjammer for breakfast. Not much. A few slices of bacon, some fruit and a spoonsful of blueberry yogurt and a carton of chocolate milk which I had to sneak off the trolley in behind where the food was put up and out. There were only 4. Must be running low on chocolate milk. I don’t every drink the whole thing, way too sweet, so I brought back the leftover back to put into the fridge.  I will use it tomorrow to take my morning pills.

After leaving the Windjammer we walked out onto deck 12 to see the city. We had docked earlier than expected and people were getting off at 8:45. We went to the room gathered our Euros, jacket because it was very overcast and cool and raining slightly. He had on 4 shirts and I carried a sweater in my backpack for him if he got cold. I also had 2 umbrellas in the backpack. I had my jogger on. We got to the theater early and were only there a few minutes till they called our number 12! We headed out to the bus. Our bus was delayed leaving because the ticket stubs did not match the head count. To many heads not enough stubs. They queried over this about 10 minutes and then we headed off. Don’t know if they ever figured it out.

  We were literally the last 2 people to get on the bus. The first 4 people had hopped into the handicapped seats, no they weren’t. So it looked like we would be in the very 2 last seats in the back. But two ladies 3 rows back who were sitting by themselves moved to their respective window seats and offered the outside seats to us. We were side by side sort of. The ride was up and up a very narrow windy, curvy road. I held on to the handle on the seat in front of me in an attempt not to crush the lady beside me. An hour ride holding and grasping the handle was not fun. Couldn’t see out the side window but could see pretty good out the front window. We finally arrived at our destination. The guide says you have 15 minutes to look and take pictures. Oh by the way no potties available and none till we get back to port.

We looked and took pictures and enjoyed the foggy view. But the rain had stopped. I had been warm on the bus so I took off my jacket when we got off and left it off. We rode about 30 minutes and then stopped at an over look at a small lake in a crater , 10 minute picture opt. Then back on the bus and back to the port. The guide was very knowledgeable and informative. He told of the history, vegetation, economy, life style. They are part of Portugal but autonomous. They had an airport, schools and college. You can study for most things but after two years if you are studying medicine or law you must go off the island to finish your work. Right now tourism is the third major source of income but the guide thought in years to come it would be number one. They don’t import fruits, vegetables, beef or milk. In fact they don’t need to import any foods. They have plenty of fresh water. There are 250, 000 people and 500,000 cattle on all the islands. Impressive. And we saw quite a few of the cattle.

Well when we got back we only walked around about an hour. We headed to security to put our bags through the scanner and go through the beep beep. Of course, I set it off. I said 2 knees and a hip. He said after scanning me, “Oh shit”. I don’t know why.

Back on board we went straight to Windjammer without stopping at go, to our room or bathrooms! He was in a hurry!! We ate some stuff. He decided he wanted ice cream after eating sso we got a cone. Remember I am still carrying everything we went off with! [editorial comment: those of you who know my wife know she refused my frequent offers to take the load off of her shoulders.]

Finally back to our room and naptime. Had to wear my mask because I was snoring again.

When we got to supper at our usual time, 4:40. There were no other guests. But by the time they opened the doors there were more guests. Dinner was okay. The dessert chocolate mousse was delicious, no sugar added of course.

I went to fill my cup after supper and then back to the room. He studied and I crocheted. I will be finished project number one in the morning. Then, I will begin project number two. We turn the clocks ahead again tonight, so tomorrow we will 5 hours ahead of you. I think this is the last time. His talk is at 12 and in the theater, YEAH, so I don’t think the time change will affect his talk.

Well, it has been a good day. I hope to do a walk tomorrow morning after breakfast after he goes to the room to study. Then, I will meet him at the theater.

One sea day and then 2 days in Lisbon. We might even get some gelato.

Love and miss you all!

Mom, Granny and Bonnie

PS: Karen hope you and Frank had a good day!

Freeze Frame

 

We just go back from the ice show (front row seats – we stood in line from 6:30, and the show started at 8 – and the performers play to that section). We have seen three different ice shows on Royal Caribbean – the Four Seasons, one whose name we can’t remember but a thief steals a gem and is chase throughout the show, and this Freeze Frame. It was fantastic.  The best of all.

And to answer a question posed from a former resident of 233 as to how many different types of ice are in the show: shave ice, ice cubes, iceberg and ice ice baby. These performers do stunts that Olympic skaters do on rinks that are 4 times the size of this one, and do them just as well.

Thanks to Teddie Love who led the folks at Crawfordville in worship yesterday.  She told me there was a visitor when they came to the door – a snake in an Easter wreath consuming some baby birds who had made their home there.  I told her I was glad I hadn’t discovered the snake or I might still be screaming, or at least running down the street.  But as I’m sure someone has said, there  might be a sermon in there.  Text: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.”

And one more time, Happy Birthday to Rachel Marie!

We played the 3^rd game in our Rummy tournament today and I jumped back into the lead, the score is now 2-1.  Ah if only the Pirates could come out on top  of their score.  Soon?  Soon!

Well, we have an excursion on Ponta Delgada tomorrow, and I’m sure Mom won’t let me sleep until 8:30, so I’m going to turn the keyboard over to her for another look at today’s adventures. Heeeeereeeeee’s Bonnie!

Well, I was up at 6:15. We had agreed not to set an alarm and sleep until. Unfortunately my until was 6:15. Well, I got up and did my Bible reading, and I am still in Jeremiah. Then I played my scrabble game on my phone. After an hour plus I was bored with my game the snores were still rolling out of his side of the bed. I said enough! I found some clothes, got dressed, put a note on the computer said “went for a walk at 7:45” and left. I quietly opened and shut the door. There was almost no one outside. I got an elevator and rode up to deck 12. The weather outside was quite unruly. There were dark clouds ahead of the ship. The deck was covered with water, it had been raining. The wind was howling and it was rather cold. But not to be deterred I headed off. And joy of joys no one was up there with me except some crew. As I rounded the first bend a crew member approached and said “you can’t be up here, the wind is too strong” . I explained there was no sign at the entrance from the elevator that said the deck was closed. He kindly led me to a way to get down to deck 11. OOPS! Sorry I didn’t know. Well, if I couldn’t walk on 12 I’d walk around on 11. The only difficult part was skirting around the smoking area. Well I made enough rounds to get my mile and headed back downstairs. Oh, and I walked down all 9 flights of stairs

I arrived back at the room and quietly opened the door, it was about 8:15. There were still loud noises coming from the bed. So since I was sweaty, I decided to take my bath. As I was finishing up about 8:30 he arose! He then proceeded to get ready. As it was to late to go to the dining room we headed to Windjammer.  That was not much this morning. My hot chocolate was barely warm (the hot milk is barely warm and the hot water was tepid).

I had on my “save the chubby unicorns” t-shirt which has a large rhino on it. I got quite a few people who told me they loved my t-shirt. Score one for the old girl!

We went to deck 5 to find a table and played cards and in the middle mother nature called and I had to go to potty. When I arrived back at our table, he was engrossed in talking to someone, of course. After he stopped talking, we finished the game which I lost, ughh!

Then, up to the Windjammer for a bite of lunch. It was better than breakfast. We ventured outside into the cold and got an ice cream cone. Then, back to the room for guess what a nap😊.  We had laid down and I was snoring so loud, waking myself, I had to put my c-pap mask on. I slept to 4! Lazy! Then it was time to get up and dress and head for supper. Tonight was tropical night so I wore my flowered capris with a pretty pink top. He wore an Augusta National shirt which was also pink.

Supper was crispy coconut shrimp, French onion soup (which had small piece of onion and was luke warm), jerk pork chop, grilled plantains, rice and beans with vegetarian chocolate brownie for dessert. All was good. The pork chop was very spicy and the plantains were very good. They tasted like a sweet banana to me.

There was the ice show at 8. They said come early so we went to Studio B which was just outside our dining room and got there just after 6:30 and the doors were closed. So we waited. They finally opened at 7:15 and we were the first in the doors and down to the front row of the end set of seats. Right in the middle. Nothing was reserved and we had the best seats in the house. I had taken my crocheting and he had his book so we good. FANTASTIC show. Best ice show ever. They played lots and lots of our favorite music including songs from Mama Mia.

We are back in our room. Not turning the clocks to night but will tomorrow night. Off on an adventure tomorrow to take a tour on Ponta Degada and then explore. We are parked right in the middle of the city. YEAH!! Our tour is only 2 hours so there will be lots of time. The ship docks at 9 and sail away is 5:30.

He has a talk the next day so no show tomorrow night, he will need to study after supper.

Rachel Marie hope you had a great birthday.

Everyone be safe.

Love you all heading to bed very soon. I talked to Karen today and Frank started another round of chemo on Monday. Keep them in your prayers.

Mom, Granny and Bonnie

May the 4th be with you

 

May  4

Well first, I’m sure I’m not the first one to offer today’s greeting to you, but just in case no one has: Happy Star Wars Day – May the Force be with you.  And for all of you Methodists and Episcopalians “And also with you.”

And if you have her email or text info, tomorrow be sure to wish Rachel Marie a happy birthday.

My talk today “The World’s Most Stolen Art Work” was at noon, so I did not set an alarm,  I told Bonnie we would go to breakfast in the dining room (the only place on board where you can get free tomato juice).  It is open from 8 to 9:30, so if I’m up at 7:30 we can be there shortly after opening.  Well Mom woke up around 6:45 and decided to stay awake and crochet.  She said if she went to sleep again, we might miss the T.J.  And she had to wake me, so that was a good move on her part.

After breakfast she went walking, singing to a little Mamma Mia (and I’ll let her tell the rest of the story).  I went back to our room to rehearse once more before my 12 o’clock talk.  As I almost always make changes, and since I am forced to use their laptop, I put my  talks on a flash drive which the cruise program administrator transfers to one of theirs.  A problem arises when they bring the wrong computer because only two of theirs are unlocked to receive files from a flash drive.  I was talking to the cruise director after tonight’s show (Invitation to Dance).  I told her about the situation and she said, “Yes our system is old.”  My personal tech support told me the problem was the refresh rate and their system couldn’t keep up with mine.  Two more talks to go, so we’ll make it.

Invitation to Dance is a high energy, non-stop show of singing and dancing with a live orchestra.  We’ve seen the show often – it is a favorite of Royal Caribbean – and this was one of the best.  The neat thing, for me anyway, is there is always a feature dance couple and they are always from Russia.  Tonight: Tatiana and Andre.  On other ships with a smaller guest capacity I’ve been able to talk to them and great memories of Samara surface.  Go away Putin so we can go back!

Oh, a new addition to the staterooms is an electric pot to heat water for tea, and I guess instant coffee.   It’s a strange addition because I can remember when you couldn’t bring a hair straightener or the plug-in coil to heat the water, or a steamer for your clothes, or … you get the picture.  I guess this one has some kind of safety device.  Anyway, this morning while rehearsing I had a cup of English Breakfast Tea.  I think tomorrow’s cuppa will be Pure Peppermint (the label says “refreshing and helps soothe digestion” – not that mine needs soothing).

Ok, since it’s after 9:30, I will slide off of the chair and give the keyboard to Bonnie so we can get to bed before midnight (she just pays closer attention to the ship’s goings on).

TTFN

Hello everybody. Sorry Amy I won’t be able to remind you of Rachel Marie’s birthday tomorrow morning, haha, private joke!

Well, as he said I awoke about 6:45 and knowing he wanted up at 7:30 I was afraid if I lay down we would oversleep. So I did my Bible reading and played a game while I waited to wake him.

We showered, dressed and headed to the dining room on deck 3 arriving at 8:30. They gave us a window seat way in the back of the dining room. I consumed one egg, one English muffin, some bacon and a tomato juice.

After breakfast I headed to deck 12 to begin my walk. On my way to the walk I stopped at the ladies room on deck 3. I went in and took care of business. I closed the lid on the toilet and flushed. After I flushed part of the wall behind the toilet fell onto the toilet seat. Yikes! I never touched it. One of the young ladies who maintains the restrooms was in there and I showed her what happened. She said she could fix it.

So I proceeded on my way. It was supposed to be 32 but it was a misprint and was probably about 60. But the wind was ferocious!! On one end of the walk  every time I walked on that part it blew me so hard that it would blow the cane up in the air after I planted it. Really crazy. I was so excited when I began my walk and rounded the walk where I could see the movie that was playing . It was “Mama Mia”. Joy I could sing and walk, not easy to do. Fortunately there were only a couple of people walking so I could sing as loud as I wanted. Not quite in tune but I was close. I was about 2/3 finished my walk and about half way through the movie they stopped the movie, put on some commercials and then started  a different movie. How Rude! Well, I finished my walk, one mile, and headed back to the room.

I picked up my crocheting bag and headed to deck 5 to fill my drink cup and find a seat near guest services. Today we had been at sea for a week and it is maritime procedure to do crew drills. So they had a crew drill and rang all the bells and whistles and crew ran around on deck 4 and 5. Passengers were not involved.

Well, I needed to use the facilities and decided to go to the room. It would soon be time for him to get dressed and go up anyway.  I didn’t stay in the room because it was too warm. So I went back up to 5 and waited for him to come up and then we went to 14. We tried 4 elevators before we found one that would go all the way up to 14. We arrived about 11:35. His talk is at 12. One of the other speakers is doing her talk she was to be done at 11:45. She didn’t stop till almost 12. (After the show this evening she came and apologized said she just got carried away.)

Well, after she finished Dad went up so they could put his flash drive into the computer. On the ship there are 4 laptops and only 2 of them are unlocked so you can load a flash drive. They didn’t bring one of those. OOPS! So Mariana had to run downstairs find a computer and come back up. Also they were filming his talk. Supposed to show at a later time sometime on this cruise. So Dad was restricted to where he could stand or move to during the talk. The screen he had was the size of the portable screen you set up, at home I’d say 8 by 10 feet. Very small and this room is a half circle with all kinds of chairs and stools and tables in it. There were probably 75 or more people in there and more than half could not see the screen. He finally got started at 12:15 and talked to one. I never want to have that venue again. In addition the whole time he was speaking some of the crew were setting up a buffet line for the “Private Function” event after his talk. He never heard any of it.

After the talk we went to 5 had some pizza and cookies for lunch then went to the cabin for our nap. Tonight was dress your best. Just a step down from formal.

Well, we went to supper and got to sit in the window seat again. The couple had gone to Chops for supper and said we should enjoy the table. Very nice. I got a shrimp cocktail, a Greek salad, prime rib and a panna cotta for dessert. On the plate with my prime rib were the accompanying vegetables.  Two pieces of carrot shaped like an ellipse and one piece of broccoli. There was also a baked potato. Well, I picked up one of the carrots slices with my fork and as I brought it to my mouth it jumped off the fork, hit the edge of the table fell into my lap and went rolling off into oblivion. Oh my! My piece of prime rib was one made just for Ivy, (it was still mooing) very rare. I ate very little of it.  

After supper we headed to the theater for the show. It was very good. When we sat down the two couples beside us were having some of the popcorn.  I tapped the lady on the shoulder and asked if it was warm. She did not speak English so she tapped her husband and I repeated my question. He said it was warm. So we splurged and bought a container, about 3 cups, $2.50 plus gratuities so $2.95. It was kind of warm. We consumed most of it.

We are on deck 3 in the thester so after leaving the show we have to go to deck 5 and walk all the way to the other end of ship to go down to get to our room. Well, they were having a party on deck 5. It was a mass of people. It took us probably 15 minutes to weave our way through these partying, dancing, singing people. They were going to do a balloon drop after the party. We finally made it through and had to try and find an elevator to take us down. Late at night both of us are pretty tired and achy and walking the 3 flights is difficult. We finally get an elevator and made it to our room.

Well, that is all for now. He has tomorrow off and the next day we are in port and have a ships tour.

Love you all and miss you. Mom, Granny and Bonnie

May 3

  

First of all let me repeat a greeting which Bonnie and I sang after we had lunch in the Windjammer.  Happy Birthday, Mac! 16 years old today. And not to embarrass you, but Granny and I remember when you came home from the hospital, weighting a whopping 4 pounds. Look at you now!

Ok folks, I’m tired. I’ve been rehearsing the talk for tomorrow twice and I’ll do it again in the morning before the noon presentation, and Mom has been gathering notes all day and told me not to steal her thunder.  So here is a more exciting report than my droopy eyes and fumbling fingers could give you.

Well, he is tired and I get to write. We have turned the clocks up again so we will be four hours ahead tomorrow. Your body knows when lose an hour. You move just a little slower.

Well, today is Saturday May 3 and it is Mac’s 16 th birthday. Made  video call to him about 12:45 our time and 9:45 his time. Sang happy birthday and wished him a great day.

This morning I splurged and had baked beans and a buttered roll, and cantaloupe with a side of bacon for breakfast. We were in the Windjammer and we actually saw another boat out in the ocean. He went back to study and headed for deck 12 to try a walk. Very windy and cold. Had my jacket tightly zipped up and my hood up and tied under my chin. I managed to walk one mile being blown rudely around by the wind. Only a few people out. But there were 5 brave souls in the pool for water aerobics. The instructor was standing on the side. I had seen this class one other morning when it was warmer and it was larger. Brave people!! I have walked well over 10 flights of stairs.

I am always amazed when I go on deck 5 to refill my drink cup at the loooong line at the Starbucks at 8am. It stays like that most of the morning. Got to have the $7 cup of coffee.

When were walking back from his talk Dad found a couple of wrestling fans standing in the Starbucks line. One of them had on a John Cena shirt. He walked up and gave the guy the John Cean and gave him the “ can’ t see me now” wave. You none wrestling fans will have to look that up. Dad talked to them and they had been to last WWE wrestlemania and had flown from Australia to the event and sat behind the commentator’s table. Big Bucks for that. I think Dad said the next one is in Perth.

From Dad: a 7 second video of can't see me now -- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uySoD-D4INU

His talk was at 11. The tech tried to get Dad’s computer on line with them again. There techs are just not as savvy as they should be. Oh well, it is a good thing we bring flash drives with his talks loaded onto them.  Talk was good. It was the “The lady in Gold” He rewrites them all the time so it was different from the last time I heard it. Lots of good comments. But again we are the first talk after losing an hour. One lady said she had gotten up to come to the talk and was going back to her room and to bed.

Now, lunch. A mixture of chicken salad, yummy, on a soft sourdough roll, a small piece of jerk chicken, and some really yummy cauliflower in a creamy sauce. Since it was still very cold outside  no ice cream and we had some of the prepared desserts. I try to stick to the no sugar added.

Supper was only soso. I tried the spinach, feta cheese, tomato in béchamel sauce in a baked pastry pie. I have had this before and it has been very good. Tonight not so much. Pastry wasn’t baked, there were no tomatoes or any feta cheese, just spinach. I also had the “fried rice with Asian vegetables”. Only problem the only vegetables were lots of little cubes of carrot and several chunks of celery. Not what I would call assorted Asian vegetables. So another soso. But the dessert saved the day. A warm chcolate cake with warm chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. 2 thumbs up!

No here is a crazy one for you. On previous ships you have been able to get popcorn when you watch a movie. Well, we have smelled popcorn walking on deck 5 and wondered where it was. We finally found it in the $ ice cream shop on deck 5 ( that is the shop where you have to buy the ice cream). Only problem is it cost $2.50 for a small popcorn cup of it. Well, when we went to the “Liberace” piano man show tonight they were selling the $2.50 cups to have while you watched the show. No popcorn for us.

I really don’t walk very fast especially when the Captain is wobbling the ship. But I do pretty good most of the time during the day. But in the evening as the day is ending I am a bit slower. When walking down the promenade on deck 5 I try to not get in people’s way and yield to most people. Tonight a family of 5 (father followed by three children and mother bringing up the rear) found it necessary to pass me on the the right where there was not room. As the third child went flying by I had stopped in order not to hit them or lose my balance and said just as mama went by, “anyone else”. She heard but could care less. Manners. Many people are careless when they seem to be in a hurry going no where to push by. But some day they too shall be old.

Well tomorrow is the “Most Stolen Art Work” talk. Unforunately all three of the talks tomorrow are on deck 14 in a very small lounge called the anchor club lounge. It is an extremely poor place to hold lectures. The surrounding wall of the room is a curved wall of windows, don’t know how they will cover those. I have no idea where they intend to put a screen or set up a computer. This is an area which will hold maybe 100 people and the private locked room for the anchor people is in room on the backside of the lounge. His talk is at 12 so people will be wandering in and out all over the place. Who knows how this is going to go.

Well, we will see how it goes. We will have a very late lunch so it will be light since we have supper at 5.

Tomorrow the high is to be 35 degrees F. I am not sure I will be walking outside. Maybe I will try walking inside somewhere. So Dad won’t be outside. So no ice cream!

Hope you have a great day tomorrow. Be safe . Love and Miss all of you.

Mom, Granny and Bonnie

 

May 2

 Bonnie and I had breakfast in the dining room.  Our waiter was a young man from India named Sunil.  I told him I had a doctor in Augusta named Sunil and asked him if he was related.  He said, “No, but I wish I was related to a doctor.”  Like our waiter, that is the doctor’s first name.  Dr. Sunil Lal is the doctor who gives me colonoscopies.  I just thought you should know.

Bonnie ordered a fruit cup and an English muffin for breakfast.  Sunil (“call me Sonny”) said, “My lady, there is no dieting at my table.”  Bon, with a generous smile, explained her blood sugar issues and Sonny agreed it was a good choice.  I had pancakes and bacon.  My pancakes came, of course, with maple syrup, and also a blueberry syrup, and something that looked like whipped butter.  Mom put some of it on her muffin and wondered about the taste.  I took a tasted and declared, “It’s whipped cream.”  She declared that it tasted good on the muffin and I liked it on the pancakes.

For lunch we went to the Windjammer.  It was very crowded.  We like to take a table for two instead of hogging a table for four.  Today we couldn’t find a two.  It had begun to thin out after we had finished, so we played a few hands of cards.  Mom was gaining on me, and I had just retaken the lead when a lady asked if she could set at one of the other tables.   Actually Bonnie offered the table to her because she was a little distressed at not finding a place to enjoy her meal.  I took her plate and set it on the table because she was an elderly lady walking with a cane.  She thanked us and I told her that I had just retaken the lead in the game, so she was my good luck charm.  That generated a good laugh.  The next hand, Bonnie drew a card, laid down 7 – a four card run and a 3 card set (regular rummy), discarded and stuck me with a handful of paint.  The lady said, “Would you like me to choose another table?”

Tonight in the Main Dining Room, our head waitress, Astri, introduced us to her husband who works in the adjacent section.  Rommel (roll the R) is from the  Philippines, Astri from Indonesia.  They met on  this ship 5 years ago.  And they invited us to come to their home, wondering if we would like it since we live “in a palace.”  I was reminded of the summer Lena came to stay with us and brought her entire summer wardrobe in one small suitcase.

Oh, I had Steak Diane topped with cognac mushroom gravy, medium rare and absolutely perfectly prepared.  My first time, and a dish that will I will enjoy again.

Well, I have finished my food blog – I am suffering from withdrawal pains, not being able to watch any of our cooking shows.  So I will turn the keyboard over once again to my darling wife for a fuller account of today’s activities.

Hello, I see my husband is trying to outdo me in blogging stealing some of my stories!

I was up at 6. Had time to do my reading I am still in Jeremiah, hard reading. I also had time to read a chapter in the book off the kindle . It is a Russian spy story called Red Sparrow. He was up at 7. I took a shower and washed my hair. I had hat head from yesterday. I used the new Oil Of Olay that I bought called age defying, haha!, has quite a nice smell. It should for a price tag of $12.75. He also  showered. So after showering etc we headed for the breakfast. Since we had turned our clocks up there were not a lot of people waiting to get into the dining room at 8. We got a window table. Very nice and very nice waiters. I had a banana I had gotten the other day in Windjammer and hadn’t eaten yet so I sliced it and added it to my fruit cup.

After breakfast I gave him my crocheting bag to take back to the room so I could walk. The high today was to be 69 but at 9 it wasn’t quite there. I had worn my new jacket I bought in Bermuda and I had it zipped up. The wind was very strong blowing you around the deck. Today I walked 2/3 of a mile and have done about 10 or so flights of stairs. After walking I returned to the room and picked up my crocheting and headed to deck 5 to fill my drink cup and sit in the bar/lounge area across from guest services. I crocheted till he came up about 12. He was meeting Mariana to get his flash drive and talk to her about getting someone to see if they can’t get their computer to talk to his. Their computer using his flash drive crops all of his slides.

He talked to her and the computer person is going to meet him at 9:30 tomorrow before his 10 o’clock talk.

As I sat and crocheted several people stopped and talked to me about what I was making. One elderly, haha as if I am not old, who we had talked to yesterday as we came back on board came and sat down. She had noticed Dad’s crocheted water bottle carrier yesterday and asked about it. She is English and traveling to England to visit her daughter and grandchildren and stay for a while. Her daughter wants her to knit her a sweater while she is there. She likes to do both. She had bought both kinds of needles, knitting and crocheting. They had traveled on the train to get to the port and they had taken all 3 pairs of her scissors because she had put them in her carry on and not checked. OOPs! She said she didn’t think it mattered on the train. But it did. After we talked a while, she went to find her husband who had gone to the bathroom and had not returned.

While we are sitting here an interesting looking couple walked by. The gentleman had a large bushy long beard but he had shaved his head. His wife had a large head of dry bushy long blonde hair. They were quite a site to see.

We went to the Windjammer and had lunch and played some cards. I had a hot dog, no bun, some grilled root vegetables and some sauerkraut. We didn’t get any dessert but after lunch walked just outside the Windjammer and got our first ice cream cone, YUM!! The young man who was doing the serving was quite adept and handy at making the cones. He could make them so they had twin swirly tops. Kind of look like the horns of a goat. The wind was still blowing and your DAD was freezing so we took our cones and came back to the room.

The elevators on this ship are squirrely. Today when I was going up to crochet I got on the elevator and pushed my deck. The doors closed, didn’t move, then opened then closed and didn’t move  then opened and it wouldn’t move!! I was still on deck 2! There was nobody in the lobby. It just set there opening and closing the doors. So I who hate elevators anyway got out and took a different one. As soon as I exited that elevator it proceeded to go up. Really!! That is the third time something like that has happened to us.

We only napped about one hour. Thanks to Amy, for reminding me to update Disney on my kindle, and to Mikey, who came on the Saturday before we left and did it and downloaded 3 movies for me, I was able to watch part of a movie while he was studying after naptime. I crocheted while I watched half of Captain America.

We got dressed and you were dress like the 1970’s, all my stuff is probably older than that. Tomorrow night is White night dress. I have nothing that is white.

Supper was good. We enjoyed it. Our wait staff is very good and they take very good care of us. Astri brought her husband over to meet us. They have been married 5 years and they are both very young, though Asti said she was born in 1994. Does not look 32.

 Well we just saw pictures of Emma all dressed up and going to the prom. Gee, I remember sitting in the kitchen computer chair rocking her when she would stay and would be fussy. I would rock and hold her and she would sleep. Many a day my arm grew numb, haha! How fast they grow. A very beautiful young lady. Her young man looked very nice too.

Her daddy asks, "Where is this little girl?"
The picture is Christmas 2010

Dad said to tell you that we are turning our clocks up again tonight so tomorrow we will be 3 hours ahead. We are supposed to do it a total of 5 times.

Oh, I almost forgot we bought tickets for a tour in Ponta Del Gada in the Azores. It is a 2 hour round trip bus ride up into the mountains for a picture stop of two connected lakes. One is blue and one is green. We have been there before but the weather was rainy, foggy and ugly. We are hoping for a better day. He uses a picture he took of them in his talk on Photography.

Well, our time is 11:05 , we already advanced our clocks for tonight. We need to sleep. He has a 10 am talk in the morning and he will need to study in the morning after breakfast. So it will be an early up day.

Love you all. Mom, Granny, Bonnie

 PS: everybody remember to text MAC it is his 16^th birthday tomorrow. Yeah Mac!!!

PS: Thank you Luke and Amy for doing the bushes and grass cutting.

PS: Maggie there are strawberries in the fridge for you. My plants are finally producing.

PS: Karen hope you and Frank are doing well. Miss you.

 

 

May 1

 First of all, we went ashore in the Royal Naval Dockyard, Sandys Parish, Bermuda.  The big deal of the day (and we stayed out for 4.5 hours) was miniature golf.  The course has 6 holes based on Bermuda courses, six on American, and six on British.  Number 12 is Number  12 in Augusta, and I got a birdie!  Take that Rory!  On one particular hole, my playing partner  pointed to a four-some of beautiful young ladies to distract me and cause me to mess that hole up.  I fooled her and birdied that one too.  When we were on the tee on number 1 there were five handsome young men in front of us and I asked  them if we could play through  because they  were playing slowly and carrying some liquid refreshment with them.  And I wanted them behind us so as not to be a distraction to my beloved wife.

Views from the  golf course

It was a beautiful day.  I’ll put some pictures in the blog [ look above, I just did] when Bonnie has finished – and she says she has a lot to tell you, so go get a drink and a snack.

I don’t have another talk until Saturday, so we will just  roam around the ship, maybe do a trivia, play some cards (I won the first game: 1-0 me, but I know she’ll come roaring back).

We bought 3 books about adventurers who have cats (“Twelve Angry Librarians” and “The Pawful Truth”) and those will be going to 2042, and the other is a detective story from 1978.  I got that one just in case I finish the Bill Bryson I brought on board.

Coming out of the dining room tonight (bourbon glazed salmon for  me and chicken pot pie for  mom) we met a couple coming in who were on our spring transatlantic last year on Explorer of the Seas.  Small world.

I have some other pictures to show you, but email is being cranky.  I'll try again tommorrow,

Well, I’m going to let my cruise buddy take over the keyboard, so TTFN.

We got up and dressed in our going off clothes and went to the dining room for breakfast. I got a breakfast burrito and it wasn’t much but the fruit cup and tomato juice were great. You can only get tomato juice in the dining room not in the Windjammer. The couple sitting beside us said hello where are you all from. When your Dad told them the lady said oh, you’re the speaker. I recognized your voice. We really liked your talk. They were from Harrisburg PA. Had a nice chat about PA and they had been to Bermuda on their honeymoon. Nice couple and conversation. They said they would see us at his next talk [truth in blogging – I reminded her of that].

After breakfast we returned to the room, got our going off Pirate backpack, hats, money, passports and sea cards, etc  and headed to deck one  which is just a few steps from our room.

It was 9:30 when we left and 2 when we returned. 4 and a half hours is a long time for an old couple. We walked MANY steps, dragging when we got back! First we headed to the putt putt golf, but it didn’t open till 10 so we decided to shop first and come back later. There was a strange phenomenon in the little tunnel that lead to the putt putt entry and the small beach. Growing from the ceiling were soda straws like you see in caverns, and they were dripping and growing. Dad said it was because the tunnel’s ceiling was limestone. Cool.

First we went to the pharmacy I wanted to get a bottle of Oil of Olay and a new strap to hold on my glasses. Didn’t find the strap but in the next shop which was kind of dive shop supplies I found a really nice strap for my glasses, it wasn’t cheap, $15,  but it was made in the USA not China, Cool. Following this purchase we headed to the “mall” to shop the stores. He wanted a pair of Bermuda shorts, he got a pair of blue ones. While shopping I found a cool jacket and I bought that.

While looking for the stuff we bumped into, literally, a mother and teenage daughter shopping. We started a conversation and found they were from Canada. They were traveling on the MSC ship that was also in dock. They had been in dock since Tuesday we found out from another couple we were talking to at the golf course. Anyway, the lady was a police officer and so is her husband and we had a cool conversation about, elections, tariffs Trump etc. They were a lot of fun to talk with and laugh together about all the craziness going on in their country and ours. New friends! While we were shopping in the stores in the hallway was a bookcase filled with paperback books and hard cover. The jar in it that said help yourself and leave $1 to $5 if you wanted to take some. We  took 3 and left $5. We  bought a few other souvenirs to be given to others. We had a really fun time shopping.

Now on to putt putt. When we got there it cost $20 each to play. Dad asked the guy if there was a discount if you played because we had been there 8 or 9 times over the years. He laughed and said it would be $24 for us to play. WOW! Well, a lady standing near us heard the price and said is there a discount and he said no. She said she thought there might be because she heard what we were having to pay. OOPS!  Well, I had a miserable day of golfing I was 7 over par and he had a fantastic day and was 6 under par. Par was 65.  I don’t think anything has been changed on the course since the first time we played. He always tells people in his talks about the putt putt and tells the audience about it and to go and have a great time.

After playing a round we were pooped. So we started dragging back to the ship. Had to show the sea pass card and a form of picture ID to get through the Bermudian guard and then show sea pass card and have it scanned to get on board. Please remove your hat! Now put cell phones, bags, canes etc on the belt to run through the scanner. Then, walk through the scanner. BeepBeep!! So go and have them pat me down and the lady said I need to touch your knees and hip after she scanned them, really!  What did she think she was going to feel. I was too tired to care. Your Dad picked up the wrong cell phone and I said that’s not yours. And  he put it back and he got the right one.

We were on deck 1 and only had to walk up one deck. 

We headed to the room and unloaded our stuff and headed up to deck 5 to get my drink cup filled and get some pizza. Luke, we had 4 pieces, and I ate 3 of them.  Then, we headed back to the room. I put stuff away and we laid down at 3 for a nap. Taking Tylenol first, haha! I didn’t think I would sleep but we were both out like a light and slept to 4:30. Then, up and dress and off to dinner. Afterwards we went to play some cards for about 1 hour. Clocks have been turned up and now we are 2 hours ahead of you and I will take my pills in a minute and we will be off to bed. No alarms tomorrow. But I am going to take a shower and wash my hair in the morning. I have hat head !

Jenn I am glad you are safely home and it sounds like you had a good time. And Tate you got to play at Chick fil A and take your shoes off, how cool. And Emma have a great time at the prom tomorrow!!

Well, hi to everybody. Love you all. This has been a good cruise so far. Next talk is Saturday and we have to turn the clocks up again on Friday night. Then we will be 3 hours ahead!

Mom, Granny and Bonnie