Sharon in AZ

Those are both good. How many days ahead are you arriving?

Good morning and Happy Sunday. I knew all 4 of my grandparents, and one set of great grandparents, but wasn’t really close to them because we lived in different towns in Colorado. My father’s mother lived the longest, about 90ish, which was ironic because she was a hypochondriac. When she died we had a small family get together in 1995 and it was the last time I saw most of my father’s family. I love orzo salad and my favorite has sun dried tomatoes and wilted spinach, sort of copied from Macaroni Grill which is no longer here. They served it with salmon and it was so yummy. I just make it up with ingredients that I like. Annie, @marshhawk, I’ve never flown into Rome but have flown to Barcelona and we had to go through immigration. This was June 2022 and the lines were long but moved fast. It sort of depends upon how many international flights arrive at the same time. DGD has spent the past 3 days and it’s been nice having her around. I hate to see her go home today. Have a great day everyone!

Dixie, there is a hotel directly across the street from the pier. We always just walk to the terminal. It’s the Bayside (I think it’s a Wyndham property). Also, what airlines are you checking?

Since this is a restaurant that my DM likes we eat there every few months. I’m not a huge fan of their lasagna either. However, I love their eggplant parmigiana and only order that and yes to the salad! I also do the take home baked penne but I cook it much longer than the instructions state. I like the crispy bits that happen when it’s baked.

Terry, yes this is quite sad and I’m sure a lot to take in right now. Prayers to Lou, you and your family. One day at a time.

Part two: Another church. Time to make the doughnuts. The Oosterdam. Our cabin is to the right of the Pinnacle Suite (the one with all the wood). We can see the hot tub from our balcony.

My post from September 18, 2022: Good morning! I was just in Livorno on June 4, 2022 on the Oosterdam and knew I had posted about the tour I took there. BTW, I've discovered it's easier to find when you search for a specific date range. Craig was in covid quarantine so I was on my own. This is part one of my post: Good afternoon everyone from Livorno! It’s a lovely day. I changed all my tours to shorter ones since I’m by myself, plus most were the ones that Craig wanted. Today was a walking tour, fish market and several stops for food and wine. Wine at 10:00 am! Yes, please. Sardine on the fish market. Inside the fish auction. Typical local fish stew served on bread. It was yummy. Bruschetta with toppings. The white things are white sardines. Yum. The olives were good too. Outdoor market. One of the many churches.

I’ve never used points for OBC but you should have received an email from Barclays with a confirmation of the redemption. Save that and I would keep checking. You might also call Barclays. In the distant past I would redeem points for drink cards but now with HIA that’s not necessary. The best redemption value is applying points to your statement.

Good evening. @Denise T, it’s never too late to book a cruise! Go for it! Dixie, at least it’s just 4 nights! We took our kids on Disney in 1999 and really enjoyed it but they were older than your DGS. I am 99% positive that we are going to Hawaii. I just will be avoiding a certain someone, unfortunately he has CO like we do but we eat late so hopefully they eat early. I am really looking forward to all the sea days. I found some more pictures of Trieste on Craig’s phone. I would love to go back. Most of these were taken from the ship. We disembarked there and just saw it from our transfer bus. This was June 13, 2022 Oosterdam, Craig’s covid cruise. The terminal: Lots of beautiful yachts and small ships: Goodbye to the Oosterdam: I’ve really enjoyed seeing all the pictures from Trieste. It’s always interesting to see a place from another point of view.

Good afternoon from a sunny Tucson. Margherita pizza is Craig’s favorite and I make it at home but not in a skillet. I prefer sausage on mine so I sometimes do both. Yesterday’s lunch with DM was nice but the food not so much. However, they do make good shrimp cocktail. Ribs were just okay and salmon overcooked. They had sangria but it was just grape juice with fruit and a flower. I put the flower in my hair. Mom’s friend Anne ate with us and the staff brought Mom a slice of apple pie with a candle and sang Happy Birthday. Many people stopped by to say Happy Birthday. We are having leftovers today. I made smoked pork chops the other day which were wonderful. Used an apple chunk and it was perfect. Have a great day everyone!

Thank you for the link to the port of the day Sandi. This is what I posted then. We were in Trieste June 13th when we disembarked the Oosterdam. We only saw it from our bus windows on our way to Venice. I think it would be a lovely place to tour. This is the cruise terminal: I didn’t take any other pictures but Craig might have so I’ll check his later.

Thank you Sandi. I ended up just looking for my most recent pictures and it turned out I didn’t have very many. Thank you for taking the time each day to post these links, I have such difficulty doing searches on CC, but I use my phone 99% of the time to post so that might be why. Weird, but I find it easier to post with my phone than my iPad. I use the desktop if I’m searching for pictures on the hard drive.

We were in Sitka September 1, 2021 on the Nieuw Amsterdam on one of the first sailings after the shutdown. We took a food tour that we didn’t really care for, mostly because we didn’t go restaurant to restaurant like we were supposed to but instead we were in a cramped storefront and the guide had all the food brought in. It was too long for us and the guide was rather scattered trying to coordinate it all. I’m sure it’s changed since then though. Here are some random pictures.

Graham, condolences to Sarah and her friend and the family. Sarah is just too young to have friends pass away. Debbie, I think about River often and have been wondering about the situation she is in. I will never forget sitting on those steps at the Hotel Frontenac last October talking about her while we waited for our transfer to the ship. I’m sure being a strong presence in her life will help tremendously. Sandi @StLouisCruisers, I searched for the second link for Sitka and couldn’t find it. If you read this could you post it for me?

We were in Sitka June 9, 2019 on the Oosterdam. It was the second time but the first time (August 2012) was a dreary rainy day and I had caught a bad cold that ended up a sinus infection so stayed on board that day. I had wanted to do a tour through the National Park and we went to a bird sanctuary first. I’ll have to check on the hard drive for pictures. I have the park pictures on my phone. Our guide was great and lived on the island. After the tour we went to the gift shop and I couldn’t resist taking a picture of these tiny flowers in the grass. We then walked around and ate lunch. It was a wonderful day.

Good morning and Happy Labor Day Monday. Thank you all for the nice Birthday wishes for my Mother. She is 94 today. We are going over to her place for lunch in the dining room, it’s a BBQ buffet with ribs and salmon. It sounded better than taking her out or having a large get together. I have a bottle of Kim Crawford chilling to take which she loves and a box of Bailey’s chocolates I picked up in the Vancouver airport this past May. I got two boxes and gave her the first one for Mother’s Day and she loved them so I saved the second box for today. She’s hard to buy for, she’s always just bought everything she wants and needs. I had some kind of bug these past few days but started to feel better yesterday. I missed telling @Quartzsite Cruiser Happy Anniversary and @RMLincoln Happy Birthday, so wish you both belated celebrations. Jake @Crazy For Cats, I’m sorry to hear about your DM’s fall and send prayers and good thoughts for her speedy recovery. @RMLincoln, I’m sorry about your friend’s passing. Condolences to you and the family. Congratulations on the new Great Grandbaby @Lady Hudson. I have been to Sitka three times and I’ll have to look for pictures later. I’m late getting ready to go to DM’s. Have a great day everyone!

Rabbit Rabbit White Rabbit Happy Birthday Terri @Cruzin Terri! I like tofu. Last night I watched an Andrew Zimmern show about Kyoto where the tofu is extra special because soy beans are grown close by. It showed how tofu is made, watching it hand cut in water looks dangerous though. Best tofu I had was on a British Air flight, Venice to London. I wish I made it more often but need some recipes. Mapo tofu with pork looks good but too many ingredients. Have a great day everyone!

Then we will be having the same meal tomorrow. Craig made the mashed potatoes on Sunday for our company and the meatloaf is from TJ’s. I have a late hair appointment tomorrow so needed something easy to make. Crazy about your water. I wonder if any businesses had problems. Glad it’s back on for you.

Our anniversary is the 14th. Why we ever decided to get married right before Christmas is crazy, mostly we didn’t want to wait until the spring after Craig graduated from college. Stupid youth decisions. I’d love to do the 21 day B2B but not sure if I can convince Craig to be away over Christmas again. This is the sailing. I’m sure you would be a good baker. I only started baking about 3 years ago. Some things come out good, some don’t. I think the pita are easier than cinnamon rolls. I usually don’t measure either but you get used to it when you work with baked goods. The Great British Baking Show is an inspiration for sure. Molly Yeh is another. King Arthur too. Yum! That’s just chopped up finer and probably easier to eat with chips. I just made mine as a salad.

Good morning and Happy Thursday. We had two waves of storms last night with lots of wind which made a mess of the backyard. Craig said the trash bin fell on the basil. Right now he’s cleaning it up and vacuuming the pool even though the pool guy is coming today. Thank you all for your prayers and condolences for my Aunt Betty. It really means a lot. Joy @Seasick Sailor, do you have plans for December 2024 on the Rotterdam? I found a great itinerary that I’m interested in for our 50th. I will probably book it while on our Hawaii cruise. I know you love the Rotterdam and usually sail in December. The recipes look great today. I just made a type of corn salad for our company over the weekend that is yummy with black beans, corn, and avocado. Jack, DBIL, couldn’t stop eating it. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/black-bean-avocado-salsa-with-corn-recipe-2041614 My pita came out amazing Wednesday and it’s really satisfying making them. Debbie @dfish, I loved the recommendations for fish tacos yesterday, thank you. I have made them various ways but the easiest is to just sprinkle the fish with chili powder and bake them in the oven then flake as much as you want and add whatever toppings you like. Have a great day everyone!

Thank you all for your kind comments. I think the family is relieved that Betty is no longer suffering. I think my DM might have delayed grief since she was so close to Betty and also since there are only two siblings left out of 13. We actually moved to Tucson from Colorado so she could be closer to her sister and lived with her until we found an apartment. That was in 1971.

Good evening from a a windy and stormy Tucson. I haven’t read the entire Daily yet but will later. My Aunt passed away this morning and like my cousin said it is a blessing. Now I just hope my Uncle can take care of himself and de-stress. It’s been really hard on him these past two years taking care of her. Thank you all for your prayers and thank you Vanessa for having her on the Care List. Have a good evening.

I did this once making ice cream and couldn’t figure out why it looked like scrambled eggs when making the custard. I reread the recipe and realized what I had done. Had to go to the store for more eggs and start over, 18 eggs later I finally finished the ice cream. Will you be posting during your cruise?

BTW, I’ve been meaning to ask, well actually just comment — have you all noticed recently how many threads get moved to other boards/topics? It seems to be much more than usual. I know some are generic but a lot of posters don’t visit those other topics, like me. Almost makes one hesitate to ask a question.

Good morning and Happy Tuesday. I’m awake early and will try to go back to sleep soon. Seems to be my routine several times a week. I texted with my cousin last night and my aunt probably only has a day or so before she passes. They have been giving her pain meds every two hours and said she was comfortable. My DM can’t believe it. It will be a blessing when she passes. My uncle looked so worn out. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. Craig’s sister and DH left yesterday morning. We had such fun together. Sandra, his sister, always wants to know what I’ve been cooking lately and asks for lots of recipes. I showed her how I make my bread too. I’m quite the cookbook collector and I sent 8 home with her to borrow. She was trilled. The smoked whole chicken was a hit. The cherry wood chips were good but not strong enough so I ordered chunks for next time. The flavor was much better than the mesquite. DD’s SO likes mesquite so I think I’ll give my supply to him. He uses pellets. I like today’s meal suggestion and can’t wait to see what recipes Debbie posts. Today I’m making homemade pita and tzatziki sauce to have with meatballs and some other toppings like olives and grape tomatoes. I have been to San Pedro but just to board a Carnival ship. Robin @Live4cruises, how is Nicholas doing? I have been thinking about him and praying for a quick recovery. Special prayers for Baby Murphy. Thinking about Lou, Tana, Terry, Terri, Chuck, Annie, and everyone on the Care List. Have a great day everyone!