ottahand7

Good morning everyone. Thanks for the Daily Rich! I liked Donald Duck a lot better than Mickey in my little kid days and actually had a DD hat, green with a big orange beak. A funny and rather true quote. I look forward to the shrimp and rice recipe and perhaps save for home because we eat Gulf shrimp at it is hard to find up here. The cocktail and the Chook sparkling Shiraz were things of my 30s. I enjoyed going down to Ghiardelli Square in San Francisco for one after meetings for work and my friends and I enjoyed Sparkling Shiraz before our tastes changed to less flamboyant wine, would enjoy them both if offered to me though. We have not been to port of Montego Bay thankfully. Thanks for the cares and celebrations reports Vanessa! @Cruzin Terri thanks for the update this morning, I hope you enjoy the buffet today and get some badly needed relaxation. Jacqui, I feel for you if you make the decision to move. When my husband passed away and I made the decision to move our basement was packed to the gills with storage racks with thing he had bought, used once, and stored. I almost got rid of it all by selling it on eBay and thankfully there was a very nice Salvation Army nearby and I was a frequent flyer there. It took from September to February to get that basement empty to show its' size. Prayers as you go through that process mentally. Thanks for sharing your challenge with all of us and also your beautiful Siberian Irises. Prayers for @Vict0riann, Chuck, Tana, @Haljo1935 and everyone else suffering in pain or grieving. Prayers for all in war zones through no fault of their own, Ukraine, the remaining hostages and the innocents in Gaza. The Belmont Stakes didn't turn out as we wanted but it was a day of fun races when it rained and hailed off and on. John decided to go fishing during a sunny spell and got rained and hailed on and caught one small fish before returning to the dock. I think I can work outside today, my back much better, just a bit of an achy neck on the other side. High in the 50s and high winds so bundling up in June is in order. Have a lovely Sunday! Nancy

Bon Voyage @Mtn2Sea and @cruzn single!! 🍾🍾

@Cruzin Terri I am so sorry for all of your troubles in Barbados. I hope Jim is okay and not too ruffled, in addition to all the stress you are bearing. Thankfully your housekeeper worked with you about changing rooms. @Haljo1935 glad your pain is better today! @Vict0riann I am happy to read your appointment has been moved up. Continuing prayers.

Great news! Four hostages have been found in Gaza and will be returned to Israel.

Good morning everyone! Thanks for the Daily Reports and Maps Rich! Let's all celebrate our friends, especially of all them on CC. Brain tumor awareness is important as is celebrating the progress in treating and stopping spreading of HIV for our Caribbean neighbors. A dumb quote. I will pass on the salmon but a Seabreeze and a Pinot Noir, I am guessing SA origin would be wonderful. Thanks for the cares and celebrations reports Vanessa. Prayers for Tana, Chuck, Terrie and Jim and Jacqui. Prayers for everyone else in our group who are ailing or grieving. Prayers for everyone in war zones through no fault of their own, Ukraine, the remaining hostages and the innocents in Gaza. I am up bright and early because I go to bed earlier so I am not sitting as much at night. So I go to bed and my back killed me in bed till 2:30, I dreaded getting out of bed and strangely it is pretty good. We have set a date to go to Iron Mountain so I will go to Urgent Care or ER depending on how I am doing three days on because I go to 20mg prednisone tomorrow which is still a high dose. My DB has been released to rehab, originally to be sent home the night of the surgery. He was hospitalized until Friday and thankfully he is sent to the good one near his home where he recuperated all last Fall. Today is Belmont Stakes Day and it is unusual as it is a Saratoga Race Course in NY. Belmont Race track has been tore apart for major rebuilding so the races are moved to Saratoga, the 1.5 mile race will now be a mile and a quarter at Saratoga. Tickets on the secondary market are going in the $thousands. I am picking Sierra Leone, my favorite in the Derby but will be happy if Seize The Gray pulls out another big surprise for his 88 year old trainer and his 500+ fractional owners. Have a lovely Saturday! Nancy

Bon Voyage @Suslor and @swin26! 🍾🍾

Good morning everyone. Thanks for the daily and maps @richwmn. Our DVD player is long gone, children deserve special care every day and I think we get a warning about a food recall almost daily. @1ANGELCAT thanks for the reminder of National Donut Day if I was near town I might even celebrate with one! Jackie Kennedy was very private so I guess that is appropriate for her. I will pass on the meal, would like the Black Widow minus the Basil and the Traminette might be available at the very nice winery we visit from time to time in SW Michigan. Thanks for researching these for us each day. Thanks for the Cares and Celebrations reports Vanessa. Prayers for you @Haljo1935 that your pain will abate quickly. Prayers for Tana, Chuck, Annie, Terrie, Jim and Jacqui and for everyone else in our group who are ailing or grieving. Prayers for all of those in war zones through no fault of their own, Ukraine, the remaining hostages and the innocents in Gaza. It is 53 degrees, cloudy and a strong wind today, No fishing will be on the docket and probably little outside work with the wind. At least the wind will dry my laundry which is built up after days of on and off rain, we dry on the line here as we are off the grid. My back started poorly yesterday but I had a good evening and a good night and a good start to the day. Maybe the prednisone is kicking in. Have a lovely Friday! Nancy

Interesting read and nice to see the difference of style and formality from HA. Obviously Cunard does not offer casinos. Thanks for sharing this.

Yes, several bottles of water usually still and sparkling and yes on the vino.

@marshhawk Annie thanks for the complete update on Chuck and his treatment path. It is a good thing that you will be getting the calls going forward. I am keeping you both in my prayers. 🙏

Good morning everyone, I guess I jumped the gun on D-Day but it is worth celebrating for a month in my book. Thanks for the maps and days Rich! I will hope to celebrate garden exercise day today. My back is better today after being careful with sitting yesterday. A true quote. I haven't been to Tracy Arm so thank you starting our day with the sunny Alaska photos Sandi. We were there in September and I don't think we had more than an hour or two of sun the whole cruise. I will pass on the frittata, the Negroni but would really enjoy a German Pinot Noir. Thanks for the Cares and Celebrations reports Vanessa. Continuing prayers for Chuck, Tana, Jim, @Vict0riann and Jacqui. @Seasick SailorI hope they get your ankle infection cleared up quickly, it seems extremity ones are tougher. Prayers for others in our group who are ailing or grieving. Prayers for all in war zones, Ukraine, the remaining hostages and the innocents in Gaza. I am using a Tens unit my lower back right now. When we were putting in the boat into the lake my neighbor heard about my back and brought her Tens unit over when she was walking her dog. I could feel it so I am hoping that will be a little extra help, tapering to 30mg of prednisone today and tomorrow. We got our boat launched at our neighbor's yesterday and we dodged the rain and happily as been noted this year the mosquitoes were less prevalent. We took a boat ride around the lake to see any changes and happily got a lot of pings in the fish finder. Hopefully it won't rain all day so I can get some of that gardening exercise. Some photos from our visit in 2003 to the Normandy Beaches. Thanks to all who lost their lives to protect the freedom from tyranny. Nancy US Cemetery, Pt. Du Hoc where the first part of the land invasion began - our Army Rangers had to shelter in those artillery divots, our Battlebus tour guide in St. Mere Eglise at the longest day church, Mulberries the artificial harbors made out of concrete and floated to near Sword or Juno Beach, my late DH in front of one of the many bunkers along the landing beaches. If the Naval Captains hadn't disobeyed directions and began to shoot their guns it was doubtful these would have been disabled. I cannot wait to return to that area, it started a love of WWII history in me.

Good morning everyone. Thanks for the Daily Rich and the photos of Mystery Island. We are going there in 2026 and I figured it was a very simple island as there were no shore excursions listed on HALs website. Let's all celebrate D-Day. Last day I saw a vet from D-Day was at Wegman's in 2014. He had a landing hat. I had to go over and thank him and he was really happy and grateful. If anyone is anywhere in Europe it is worth taking a few days away from Amsterdam and take a train to Caan or Bayeaux and take a tour of the cemeteries and the landing beaches. It is really moving with a good guide. Let's celebrate HIV long survivors. I worked for GSK for 22 years and the company developed the two base drugs for the cocktail that started to extend people's lives and developed several more. I will celebrate Baby Boomers Day. A good quote from WC Fields, his movies were full of those lines. Thanks for the comestibles, I love deviled eggs and look forward to those recipes, pass on the cocktail, will take my bourbon straight but another beautiful German Riesling. Thanks for researching these for us each day. Thanks for the Cares and Celebrations Reports. Prayers for Chuck, Tana, Jacqui, Terri and her DH and everyone else needing them. Prayers for all in war zones through no fault of their own Ukraine, the hostages, dwindling with four new deaths announced, and the innocents in Gaza. @swin26 welcome and safe travels to your cruise. Thanks for the photos of Milo and Sadie @StLouisCruisers, enjoy your day in Keil. I loved visiting Germany by land. Our dinner was fun last night but I overcooked the ribs on the Big Green Egg, some were edible but we had a big salad, corn casserole and baked beans so no one went hungry. I sat on our patio set dining chair for two hours and when I got up I could barely walk. Even sleeping was painful but I slept. Another day on 40mg of Prednisone, if I am not better with better seating choices I guess I will have to go to the Marshfield Hospital in Iron Mountain ER and try to have them get me an injection to stop the pain. Thankfully sitting in my recliner with my knees raised and pillow beneath is a relief and doesn't kill me when I get up. It is raining now, badly needed and John got the sprinklers running yesterday the O-rings we bought in town were the wrong sized so he used flexible caulk and it worked. Our boat is going in this afternoon, perfect timing as I am not able to do hard work so we can fish. My brother called me yesterday from his hospital room and he said the hospital was much better than his previous one with excellent care, we'll see how it goes today. Have a lovely Wednesday! Nancy

@kazu I forgot to mention when you get your weeds out put down Preen so no more weed seeds germinate after your hard work removing them available at most garden supply centers. My kitties I miss so much.

Good morning everyone! I would hug my girls if they were still here with me, I hug them in my heart almost each day. Innocent children of aggression is the picture of the children of Gaza and African countries always at war, children have no political opinions and should be thought of each day. A fun quote from WC Fields, on many kitchen walls and t-shirts. I would love today's meal with some chilis as the greens, I would like a Bloody Margarita and today's Rhone style blend from WS should be tasty. Thanks for researching these each day for us! I look forward of more photos of Molde. Thanks for the cares and celebrations reports each day Vanessa, I hope your BFF continues to mend well. Save travels to Barbados @Cruzin Terri. Continuing prayers for @Vict0riann, Tana, Chuck and that the eye appointment went well yesterday @RMLincolnfor your DH. @StLouisCruisersthinking of you on the day of your DS passing four years ago. @kazu Jacqui I will post of picture of a stirrup hoe at the end of my post since your weeds aren't established it is a great way to remove them from your seat or standing, prayers your foot continues to heal. My DB has his knee surgery again, this time at a different hospital and a different surgeon. Once again they removed 200mL of pus out of his knee prior to surgery. Nothing cultures because he was still on Keflex. They removed the graft, thoroughly sterilized and put it in with antibiotic laced cement. I am sure they kept him overnight with the amount of infection in the joint. We had a nice trip to town and our favorite pizza place was closed on Monday so we tried a newer restaurant in Crystal Falls. John had the $7 daily special of burger, fries and soda, can't get a meal like that at McDonald's. I had their fried chicken sandwich with tots and it was so huge I took it home and had the remainder for dinner. Good thing, when I got out of the truck I could barely walk. If we were in town when it started I would have gone to the ER, my right leg worked, my painful left leg took a 1/2 step to even up with it and so on. I had no other choice here than to start on Prednisone. I took 40mg and laid down for a two hour nap and by the time I woke I was back to 50%, this morning at 75% back to normal. I will take another 40 today and then begin to taper and stay at 10 for another 10 days and hopefully it will last until we return home in the fall and I can get the injection in the SI joint. We are having our neighbors over for ribs tonight, one is my now full time summer neighbor minus her husband and another closer neighbor who has sold his cabin to the other neighbor, his last night up here. It will be nice to say goodbye and tell him to be sure to come back and visit. Ribs on the Big Gree Egg tonight. Have a lovely Tuesday. Nancy Stirrup or Scuffle Hoe Home Depot

Good morning. Thanks for the Daily and maps Rich. Thanks for enlightening us about the Equadoran mountain Graham. Other days are strange. Quote is funny. I will pass on broccoli and bananas but today's wine sounds nice. Haven't even been to today's port so looking forward to beautiful photos. Prayers for all on our care list, Tana,Chuck, Jacqui and @RMLincolnand @Cruzin Terri as you are on the road today. Prayers for those in war zones through no fault of their own, Ukraine, the hostages and the Innocents in Gaza. Thanks for compiling this for us each day. We are off to town and really hoping we get some badly needed rain. Our lake water pump doesn't want to prime at the time we need it the most. Trying to find an O ring and some hose fittings. Have a nice Monday! Nancy

Good morning everyone! Thanks for the Daily and maps Rich! All of us cruisers will celebrate St. Erasmus. I would love a rotisserie chicken but town is a 45 minute drive away. We are heading there tomorrow, maybe tomorrow. Can't barely turn on the TV to be very aware of gun violence. A beautiful quote. I look forward to everyone else's as we are heading there two years in a row beginning next year. Thanks for the photos today Sandi. I will pass on all three comestibles. Thanks for researching them for us each day. Thanks for the Cares and celebrations reports Vanessa. Prayers for Chuck, Tana, Jacqui, @Vict0riann and everyone else who is ailing or grieving. Prayers for all in war zones through no fault of their own, Ukraine, the hostages and the innocents in Gaza. I had a relaxing day and got little done other than resting. All ready for a big day of work in the garden. We got a lot of basically nuisance rain yesterday but it was enough to keep me from having to water all of my Hosta starts, 7 small new trees and the annuals. Hopefully we get more tomorrow when we go to town. I am going to start with weeding first then string trimming. That way if I am in pain I am done for the day. This is usually a twice a season job to keep trees and giant weeds from coming up in our cleared area. Now that all the plants are growing up the mass of weeds that germinated in the mild winter so I am not so stressed to get them our all at once. Have a lovely Sunday. Nancy

@Horizon chaser 1957 Happy retirement to your DH!

Bon Voyage @luvteaching!!🍾

Good morning everyone. Thanks for the Daily and the maps Rich! I will recognize Children's and Parents Days though none for me. I was saved once by the Heimlich Maneuver and used it twice on my Dad. A great quote by Bob Marley and Bridge Over Troubled Water is an all time classic. Pass on the meal and the cocktail but the SB sounds wonderful, I don't think I had one from the Pacific NW. Thanks for researching these for us each day. Thanks for the Cares and Celebrations reports Vanessa. Oh @Vict0riann I am so sorry your biopsy was positive and that they made you wait a whole week to get the results. Prayers for your 100% healing. Prayers for Chuck, Tana, @Cruzin Terri, @Haljo1935 and everyone else in our group who are ailing, healing or grieving. It is supposed to rain today and it is very badly needed. It hasn't rained since last Friday and that wasn't much. It will be a good day for me to sit around inside because my SI joints in my back are causing me a lot of trouble then for some reason I was breathless from my asthma. No reason for that unless there is wildfire smoke and I haven't anything about that lately. Nonetheless I got some weeding done and dinner cooked. Back on the mend today but rest will help. Have a lovely Saturday! Nancy

Bon Voyage @Mr. Boston! 🍾

@cat shepard your description of today's wine mentions the Sonnenuhr Vineyard. Here is a photo of me and our rental Rover in the Moselle with the "Sun Dial" vineyard in the background. Very happy memories from one of our memorable wine tours with my late DH.

Good Friday morning. A much warmer one here with the temp at 48. Thanks for the Daily and maps @richwmn. Thanks for the definition of the day today Graham, Norman Vincent Peale was a positive thinker but it also can go the other way, the more one ponders their troubles, they can grow also. I guess I should use ear plugs when running my string trimmer but it is nowhere as loud as my old gas powered one, sadly it just as heavy or more so. A good quote by Tolkien. I will pass on the bread, would enjoy the rum version of the Tamarind and I would love to find today's wine and would buy a case of it if I could. Thanks for researching these for us each day and for your educational response on the making of a Tamarind cocktail Dixie. Thanks for the Cares and Celebrations report @JazzyV. Happy birthday to your DH @Vict0riann. 🍾🎂. Prayers for Chuck, Tana and everyone else in our group who are ailing of grieving. Prayers for all in war zones through no fault of their own, Ukraine, the hostages and the innocents in Gaza. Yesterday we got our dock completely in and leveled. I worked on string trimming and cut up three cedar logs with a hatchet and a heavy hammer. That was enough for one day. More of the same today, putting in the lake pipe for the water pump system for watering the yard, string trimming and probably digging up a few hostas to pot up for next year's plant sale. They seem to overwinter the best along with the Irises. A Monarch Butterfly flew through the yard yesterday. So much for slowly making their way north by generation. Thank goodness the milkweed is up. Have a lovely Friday. Nancy

Good morning everyone. Thanks for the Daily and Maps Rich. I will celebrate water a flower today after I uncover all the tender ones, we had a frost last night. Prayers for anyone that is battling MS and thankfully they are coming out with some treatments for it. I agree with the last line of the quote. I will pass on the meal but the Pirate cocktail would be great on a BHB I think minus the OJ. Sound like a nice wine! I have not been to today's glacier. Thanks for the Cares and Celebrations Reports. Prayers for Chuck, Tana, Graham and Pauline and everyone else in our group who are ailing of grieving. Thanks for the photo of your DD beach tree @StLouisCruisers. Thanks for the update on the scary train events on your cruise yesterday Sandi. Prayers for all in war zones through no fault of their own, the people of Ukraine, the hostages and the innocents in Gaza. It was 66 inside when I got up today and I burned the last of my Cedar kindling today. I have logs of it so I guess I will be splitting more. So happy that we spent some time in the woods last September gathering small Maple kindling because our unsplit logs are difficult to get started. Our neighbors are living up here all summer and fall so it will be easier to find them at home to borrow their log splitter when we get to that part of our cabin work. More string trimming today, yesterday I fell asleep in my easy chair for two hours while John watched TV. It was badly needed after my busy day yesterday. More of the same today. Have a lovely day! Nancy

Happy Birthday Gary @GTVCRUISER! 🍾🎂

@kazu Happy Birthday!! 🍾🎂