Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Four

[rosepark]

 

My paternal grandmother died when I was about 5 years old and one of my few memories of her is going with her to the bakers on the Shankill where she bought her bread and I would always get treated to a bun with coloured icing on top. And in the winter we would toast bread on a fork over the peat fire - I seem to remember the toast tasted mainly of peat smoke.quote]

 

Remember this, TTS?

 

"My Aunt Jane, she took me in

Gave me tea out of her wee tin

Half a bap with sugar on the top

Three black balls out of her wee shop"

 

I now have the most annoying earworm

Rp

[Tothesunset]

 

My paternal grandmother died when I was about 5 years old and one of my few memories of her is going with her to the bakers on the Shankill where she bought her bread and I would always get treated to a bun with coloured icing on top. And in the winter we would toast bread on a fork over the peat fire - I seem to remember the toast tasted mainly of peat smoke.

 

Remember this, TTS?

 

"My Aunt Jane, she took me in

Gave me tea out of her wee tin

Half a bap with sugar on the top

Three black balls out of her wee shop"

 

I now have the most annoying earworm

Rp

Thanks for that. I shall let you know when I get it out of my head!

 

I must say that my Mum in particular, but my father too when he's not thinking, still, after 40 years or more, come out with little gems that you just don't hear in England: ''Your mother's a cowboy'', ''That's a weeker'', ''powerful good'', ''you're giving me the head-staggers''. And, of course, every noun is prefaced with the word ''wee'. As in ''that's a quer big wee car you've got there''!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good afternoon .... today was duck in pancake with etceteras ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Tothesunset]

To rosepark (specifically but not necessarily exclusively):

 

Did you watch '' Derry Girls''?

 

Even my wee English OH thought it was terrific.

[rosepark]

To rosepark (specifically but not necessarily exclusively):

 

Did you watch '' Derry Girls''?

 

Even my wee English OH thought it was terrific.

 

Absolutely, loved it. I had to do a bit of translation from time to time for my OH and he remains to be convinced.

For the benefit of other Coolers, Derry Girls is a tv comedy drama set in 1980s Londonderry/Derry - depending on your religious persuasion- and following the lives of a group of teenagers at school and at home. Its very funny but against the backdrop of bombings, shootings and rampant sectarianism. Typical Northern Irish black humour.

In other news, literally, just listening to reports of suspected poisoning of Russian ex spies, allegedly,in Salisbury. Straight out of John le Carre.

Rp

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers! Hope everyone is doing well and surviving whatever winter weather is doling out.

 

There are a number of Coolers who love to dance. Here is a contest that may challenge us all:

 

 

Have a great day all!

[Mudhen]

Afternoon Coolers!

We're back from a foray into Rhode Island for a few days to look at property near our daughter. Phew.....8 house inspections later, we were failures. Saw one we really liked but had cesspool/septic system issues that we just didn't want to deal with. Could be repaired, so we made a low bid. We were not successful, but that's ok. We're raising our financial threshold and then going at it again in a few days. Need a little time to decompress!

There was terrible weather here (New Hampton) and in RI as well. A real Nor'easter. No snow (that comes tomorrow) but horrific rain and wind. Many trees down, folks flooded out, power out as well. Tomorrow we're supposed to get 8-12" of flurries. ugh.

John has checked out the snowblower and it's ready to go. Extra fire wood for the wood stove in case the power goes out and the freezer has extra ice cream in it, so what else is there??!!! (haha) Hope all folks in the Northeast US have battened down the hatches for the next blow.....

[MissSophia]

Hi All......

 

Mud.....good luck with the house hunting....can be a very testing time! What awful weather reports....hope you don’t send it over here to us....rumours are abound that we can expect another freeze soon!

 

Love to dance M...thanks for the giggle pic....

 

Have been on a mega shop today for accessories...all new bedding and the new television for the wall....the young man who served me was hell bent on selling me the usual ‘extras’ and got quite grumpy when l refused.....so annoying and spoils the fun....one extra being a remote that l can talk to...🙄

 

Another grump l have is trying to get concert tickets these days.....the Stones are gigging around the uk this summer but all in the huge outdoor stadiums.....even the so called vip offers at £500 a go is standing outside....then one has to wait until a certain date to ‘hopefully get lucky’ it’s an absolute joke........

 

Ah well......guess it’s a sign of getting old and less tolerant.....😊

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Evening All,

 

M, that's a funny pic ... but I never ever dance. I cannot shake anything rhythmically and would look like a cat trying to escape from a bin liner if I tried. Wifey has loads of dancing awards from when she was a kid.

 

Mudhen, I envy you the change but I couldn't face having to pack up and tidy up and so we will stay put.

 

S, hope you get a decent telly with all the required bits but not those silly extended warranties. They are so clever these days. If you have an Amex card they are offering safe Stones tickets.

 

It has been exciting here with the Russian spy being poisoned in Salisbury which is a few miles from us. The pub he went to is the one we use because it is right by the long-term car park.

 

Today we had some lemon sole which was lovely and I was commanded by The Boss to make some shepherds pies for the freezer and one for now as the ones you buy are rubbish. So up to my neck in minced lamb, soffritto, cheesey mash, gravy etc. Got to keep her happy!

[mysty]

Linda...best wishes for finding a lovely "nest" to settle into. I echo Jeff in terms of being overwhelmed by the mere thought of moving out of a home we have lived in for almost 38 years.

 

Miss S....your accessories shopping trip sounds like a huge success! Brilliant!

 

J...Myster does NOT like to dance either. He is tall and I think that makes him a wee bit self-conscious. He has humoured me over the years and I adore him for that. Ballroom dancing lessons, square dancing lessons! Your shepherds' pies sound amazing! And the spy (double agent) poisoning sounds like something out of a Le Carre novel.

 

Enjoy your evening all!

[Lois R]

Well, tomorrow night I am having another MRI.......it is called an OPEN MRI.......lets hope it goes better than the other one:eek:

It is supposed to be a much larger machine with air openings at both top and bottom...

[jpalbny]

Good luck Lois; I've heard that the open MRIs are much more tolerable. I had a closed MRI years ago and it didn't bother me too much, but it is definitely constricting.

 

Miss S, seems that we are both in a mad busy house renovation stage! Last year we did the sunroom and the master bathroom, and just yesterday we spent the evening clearing everything out of our great room. We're having the walls and ceiling painted, and the carpet removed, to be replaced with custom hardwood flooring. It is going to be beautiful when it's done. We have timed it so that the floorwork starts on the day we leave for Australia, and when we come home, it should be finished.

 

Here is a picture of the floor pattern that we chose. We are pretty excited by how it looks.

 

 

But after that, I think we'll sit back and enjoy the house and our renovations for a while, before planning anything else.

 

Gettng ready for another winter storm tonight and tomorrow. Enough already. Hope it's mostly melted by next week when we leave for Oz.

[mysty]

Beautiful floor JP!

[Lois R]

Hi JP, thanks and yes, the floor is beautiful:D

 

Spoke with my girlfriend tonight (she is the one I am going to Disney with) and we have all our dinner reservations booked:D

And plans for the 3 days are coming together. I can't wait to go to the Animal Kingdom.......I have never been there before.

We go a week from Thursday (the 15th).........should be fun:D

[MissSophia]

JP that floor is stunning and is going to look fabulous.......yes also in the throws of renovations here but on a much smaller scale....although equally disrupting!

 

Jeff...did you know it is British Pie week...hope you have baked some in honour of 😝

 

Happy Day 😊

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Morning all ......

 

JP ... I have never had floor envey before but I have now. So much looking forward to seeing some completed piccies.

 

S, I am fed up with "this day" and "that day" and I was going to say "what next ... sausage week?" But I think there already is! :D

[rosepark]

Hola a todos ( hurrah for Google translate)

Off to Andalucía tomorrow for a couple of days. We will be staying near Estepona, any recommendations for restaurants in the area?

Rp

[jpalbny]

Enjoy! We spent a week in Marbella years back and loved it. You must visit Ronda if you have the chance. Amazing!

 

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[UKCruiseJeff]

RP,

 

Enjoy Estepona, it is my favourite town along that part of coast. It has more of a local authentic flavour than resorts each side.

 

If you don't mind me suggesting so I think pre-planning where to eat there mightn't be the best approach here. It is still fairly comparatively local in flavour and has a nice scenic center with bars and inexpensive places to eat and the obligatory evening "promenading" along the sea front and town center. Much of the best eating places are in traditional buildings off the center and worthy of exploring. You'll also find some tapas bars.

 

So I'd just go with the flow and mooch around and simply see where the locals are eating and what takes your fancy.

[MBP&O2/O]

I just glanced at and misread the spy story .... I thought he had been poisoned by a noxious substance in Sainsburys ? ... which could cover a multitude of things[emoji3]

Back to the packing .... up at 4am and setting off at 5am tomorrow ... deep joy.

Just checked in online (BA) and it has let us both check in for the whole journey but it will only issue boarding passes to Mrs B as far as the AA flights are concerned? I presume it is to do with the secondary TSA / AA security quiz at LHR. All it says is mine will be issued “at the airport”. Which airport is anyones guess .... they don’t like making things simple do they.

On the positive side of things I got a rebate for my inter-island Caribbean flights after they messed us about forcing us to cancel them. Very surprised at that.

 

 

 

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[Mudhen]

'Morning Everyone,

Talk about floor envy...omg, so beautiful, JP! We did actually see some beautiful floors in Newport. When the agent said they had "fir" floors, I'm thinking something completely different....Fur? mink, beaver, haha!

Anyway, hatches are battened down yet again. We seem to be in the ground zero range for snow this time. Getting pretty sick of this stuff....! Trying to show Silversea videos in my head about now!

To all of you who are headed out....Disney World, Australia, Spain....have a wonderful time....Seriously jealous!

[rosepark]

Thanks to you both, JP and Jeff, we are awfully good at mooching so will do just that. I only wondered if there were any special restaurants which deserved a visit should we happen to mooch past them. Estepona and Ronda are both on the list, the latter if the weather and my driving hold up. Darling OH renewed his driving licence at the weekend and , as instructed, cut up his old one. The light only then dawned that he might need to produce a licence to hire the car - whoops. So it could all be down to me, I love driving but not on steep windy mountain roads.

Thanks, too, to MBP etc for reminding me to check in. Have a great trip.

Where is Terry BTW? Is he in Vietnam, still?

Adios amigos (with apologies to Camillus if this is incorrect).

Rp

[UKCruiseJeff]

I just glanced at and misread the spy story .... I thought he had been poisoned by a noxious substance in Sainsburys ? ... which could cover a multitude of things[emoji3]

Back to the packing .... up at 4am and setting off at 5am tomorrow ... deep joy.

Just checked in online (BA) and it has let us both check in for the whole journey but it will only issue boarding passes to Mrs B as far as the AA flights are concerned? I presume it is to do with the secondary TSA / AA security quiz at LHR. All it says is mine will be issued “at the airport”. Which airport is anyones guess .... they don’t like making things simple do they.

On the positive side of things I got a rebate for my inter-island Caribbean flights after they messed us about forcing us to cancel them. Very surprised at that.

 

 

 

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Hi,

 

Yes you are right. It will be likely one of two things. She may have been flagged for extra attention or there may be overbooking. If you wish to be reassured call and they will tell you.

[UKCruiseJeff]

RP,

 

I think that it's always best to take a judgement on Tripadvisor feedback as a reasonable starting point as it is always going to be better and more up to date than a single person talking about a visit somewhere some time ago. Ignore single posters and extremel good or bad comments and you'll be well guided.

 

For what it's worth, unless there is something specific I'm looking for ie what is the best fish restaurant at so and so, or if it is a major city where hitting on a really good place is much more of a lottery then in smaller places mooching to me always seems the best and most fun approach. City restaurants can rely on a lot of traffic from transients and tourists but smaller towns rely on local repeat trade and seeking out good places that are good and "of the locality" seems more fun and as the towns are much smaller establishing which is the best places is so much easier to do.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Mike,

 

Just thinking about your post .... just double check that both of you have entered passport details into your BA profiles (correctly) and check the expiry date of both passports are entered and aren't within 6 months of departure from US soil.