TheKingD

I feel like I'm a kindred spirit with you, @notamermaid, much more so with the humans, because I don't know too many felines.  I wish I could schedule a little trip, but mine would have to be close by rather than too far away.  I know I would be able to hide out in my cabin if i needed to!

Please take care of yourself.

The clock is ticking as the excitement builds!  

Yikes for @KenzSailingand now both of you.  I'm still afraid of getting it again, plus I'm afraid of the flu and am hearing about experiences similar to @BWIVince.  Take care of yourselves.

Oh no @KenzSailing!  When I tested positive back in July, my symptoms may have been even milder than yours because I though it was allergies.  I had apparently given it to DH before I realized I had it, and he blew through probably a dozen tests the  day after I was positive, because he just knew he had to have been infected.  About a day and a half later, he was up all night and definitely had it, and he tested positive that morning.  So make sure OLoPP still tests for a day or so.

Ditto on the brain fog.

Take care of yourself.

Happy New Year to all the kind, wise and dear people here.  Even though I have not been on a cruise in over three years, I live vicariously through many of you who have been traveling.  I laugh and cry with you all, and I truly look forward to the posts every day.  I always learn something, and I am grateful to you all for providing some grounded reality to life.

It is currently 27F in Charlotte, and the wind chill makes it feel like it is a lot colder.  @notamermaid, I wish we could share some of our cold weather with you, and your friend is correct that there are scattered power outages all around.  We live in an older part of town with lots of huge old trees that are notorious for dropping limbs on power lines.  We will definitely leave some dripping faucets tonight, and we will also wrap some pipes.  At least we have crystal blue skies and no snow, so we are luckier than other parts of the country.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all!

We have so many sporting events to follow in this area, with college football (US football) and college basketball, so the World Cup has a lot of competition in this area.  @notamermaid, I'm glad your friend in Charlotte NC is in good spirits, and I think many people here are in better spirits than we have been for a couple of years.  More and more people are going all out with their Christmas lights in their yards.  Our display is much more traditional, and here are a couple of photos - not really good quality, but the sentiment is good!

Our weather has been all over, with some days warm and some days colder, but we rarely have snow for Christmas.  I'm a bit envious of those of you who do, even though a little would go a long way!

Another good book about the time after Pearl Harbor, for @luvteaching and others interested, is Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins.  It is fiction, but the setting and time period are very real, and it contains some captivating story lines, including how people can be interconnected in ways they never knew - much like the Daily-ites!

Good morning from soggy, but lucky Charlotte, North Carolina.  @notamermaid, I think your friend is close to us, and we were barely on the edge of the more dangerous parts of Ian.  We had about 4 hours of heavy rain and wind late yesterday afternoon and some areas lost power.  I’m watching news reports this morning and they are reporting that we had just under 4 inches of rain.  Our power flickered and the neighborhood streets have lots of debris but nothing serious.  Hopefully your friend is ok too.

The reports coming out of Florida are heartbreaking, and we know we are very fortunate.

Sending prayers for all the Floridians and other affected by Ian.  We will have rain and wind here in North Carolina by Saturday, but we are lucky this time around.

@dfishthis mug is for you.  I love the mid-Century modern look of the new house.  Congratulations.

@kazu, I took a solo cruise years ago after a really sad time, and it was just what I needed.  I could stay in my cabin (in my robe and snoozing on my sofa) if I wanted to, or I could be around people if I wanted to.

Please take good care, everyone.

Good afternoon dear people.  About boiled peanuts, we have had them all our lives, because my father used to make them, and plenty of roadside stands have them, and DH makes the best ones!  @TiogaCruiser, he orders the jumbo raw peanuts in their shells from Nuts dot com, because smaller ones are more difficult to cook to the right doneness.  Their website has the instructions, and you can adjust as necessary.  We cook ours on our outside burner next to the grill in case of a boil-over.  Use a huge pot, and you might need to put something heavy on top of the nuts in the beginning so they don't all float to the top of the water.  We like them best when they are close to al dente, or "medium rare" as DH prefers to say.  Some of the roadside ones are softer and saltier, and I have never had the ones from a can so I'm not sure how those compare.  DS lives in California, and he usually takes some home when he has been to the South, because his West Coast friends like them once they try them.  I think you should give them a try!

@KenzSailing, here is another coda to your extravaganza.  Keith looks like he has never had a bowl of ice cream, and I know Roy is an ice cream guy.  I get to stay in the cool kitchen while DH is outside at the grill and smoker in the "air you can wear" - perfect description!  I bought a Whynter ice cream maker and in less than an hour, I have a batch of delicious mint ice cream with stracciatella-type chocolate shavings in it.  I chop up some Mint Milano cookies and put those in for good measure.

Happy Anniversary to Keith and Anne Marie!

Terry @smitty34877, I am so sorry the virus has spread in your household.  I hope it will help to hear that the Paxlovid definitely helped my DH.  I must have gotten the virus first, and I have no idea where or how - a couple of weeks ago.  My case was mild, but I had given it to DH before I knew I had it, and his was not mild.  The Paxlovid started helping him by Day 3, and he was even better from then on.  My DB now has it and just started Paxlovid yesterday.  I think we may all be older than you - I'm late 60's, and DH and DB are 71 and 69 1/2 - if that matters.  DH did not have any adverse affects.  I'm wishing all of you all my best.

Cindy

Good afternoon, dear people.

After reading @XBGuy's post, I wanted to chime in about both moonshine and about wine.  I'm in North Carolina, and I used to use an old full-service gas station, and it finally closed about 10 years ago.  If I ended up stopping there late in the afternoon, near closing time, which was about 6, the guys who worked there would be clustered around the back of someone's truck passing a mason jar around.  They were always happy to share, so that is my only experience with moonshine, and I was honored to be included.

I always learn something about wine from @cat shepard's posts, and then @XBGuyfurther enlightens me.  I have made a note about Theopolis Wines from a week or so ago, and now that you are talking about old vineyards, do you know Tofanelli?  His vineyard is really old, and some of his structures were damaged in the fires last year, so he has stopped producing his own wines and is focusing on rebuilding as he is now back to selling his grapes to other wineries.  He has grenache, plus he has petite syrah, and he has charbono and semillon. 

My wine club memberships are a bit out of control, so after he depletes his inventory from his cellar, I can add Theopolis to my list, since is looks like she has similar wines - all my favorites!

Thanks to everyone for always adding some kindness to my days.  I read every day.

Cindy

Thanks, @notamermaid, for the few minutes of escaping to lovely places.

Here is a screen shot of @rafinmd's ship in the Charleston Harbor this evening as the sun set behind the clouds.  I think they are getting ready for the sailaway.  When we visit Charleston, we stay in a hotel near the webcam that has this view, and we watch ships come and go into the harbor with the Charleston city as the backdrop with the setting sun.  I hope you all had a great day today.

I couldn't name the third movie without looking it up, but I know the car he was in when he was killed in the accident.  I love the two movies I knew he was in, and I'm a Porsche gal so I love the car too!

Cindy

Oh, my - @May B!  I had already gotten hooked on Wordle, but I didn't know about Mathler.  I'm a numbers gal, so I make myself do word puzzles to balance things out.  Now I'll get to see if my Mathler scores will be as good as my Wordle ones.  Thanks for teaching me something new today.

Cindy

I am with @rafinmdon today - really busy and I had not heard about the Crystal Serenity until I saw it on today's Daily.  

I tried to find a Magnolia cake for @TiogaCruiserand I could not find one either.  I looked in my church cookbooks, my Elvis cookbook, my Junior League cookbooks and all my Southern Living ones.  I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for, but I didn't see anything that looked even close.  I'm curious too.

Have a good weekend, everyone, and stay safe, warm and hopeful.

Cindy

Thank you Roy, for adding some heartfelt perspective.  Ditto @KenzSailing.

Today is my birthday, and I received a birthday email from Crystal, along with some from my dentist, my wine clubs, my alumni association, my ophthalmologist, and plenty of others.  I'm such a true-blue Crystal gal that their email seems very bittersweet.

Crystal Birthday.pdf

I am also a January Girl, and my birthday is tomorrow.  @smitty34877and @Cruising-along, I like the description of "sunshine with a little bit of hurricane", and I have also been called a "velvet sledgehammer" which probably has a similar connotation, and I just respond with "compliment accepted!"

Thanks to everyone for the kindness, humor and interesting tidbits here.  And sending prayers for all on the lists and for all of us.

I'm glad to hear that your friend did not have any adverse effects from the snow and ice over the weekend, @notamermaid.  We were OK too, thank goodness.  I live in an older part of the city where we are surrounded by huge old trees, and when we have a lot of ice mixed in with the snow and especially if there is a lot of wind, some of the trees lose large branches or even topple over.  The power lines in our immediate area are buried, but plenty of lines are still above ground, so we can lose power if something happens up the line from us.  Our weather forecast is calling for more snow the end of this week, but the prediction is for only a small amount and only snow without the ice threat.

Thank you to the posters here for providing interesting stories and a nice diversion in these crazy days.

My step-mother and her sister were such big fans of the Bremen Town musicians and that was their favorite nursery rhyme.  My step-mother came into our lives after our mother died and after we were a little older, so we didn't know the story.  My aunt had given my Mom a porcelain figurine of the animals on each other's backs.  When my Mom was 95 and we knew she only had a few hours left, her sister sat in bed with her, holding her hand, and they talked about happy things from their childhood, including the Bremen Town musicians and also Heffalump from Winnie The Pooh.  I never knew the story until @notamermaidposted the link to it.  Thanks to all of you for bringing back those memories!

Also, @notamermaid, if your German friend still lives near me in Charlotte, our weather forecast is calling for a major snow and ice storm this weekend.  A lot of times, our weather people are wrong and seem to hype up an event that turns out to be of little consequence, but this one might be real.  We usually get a lot of ice mixed with the snow, so make sure he is prepared to lose power and have treacherous driving for a day or so.

Happy New Year to all the dear people here.  Thanks to the regular kind folks including Rich and Roy for the daily connections.  And Go Dawgs - we are pulling for you @richwmn!